75 insurance sector players licensed

Jan 10, 2014

A total of 22 licensed insurance companies, 26 insurance brokers, 17 loss assessors, adjusters, insurance surveyors and risk managers and 89 agents have so far been licensed

By Samuel Sanya

THE Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) has licensed 75 firms as the insurance industry continues to grow. New Health Membership Organisations (HMOs) have also been licensed.

Licensed Health Membership Organisations have increased to 10 from seven.

A total of 22 licensed insurance companies, 26 insurance brokers, 17 loss assessors, adjusters, insurance surveyors and risk managers and 89 agents have so far been licensed.

“The authority is still examining agents’ applications for the year 2014. We advise the public to only deal with the licensed firms. More firms will be licensed during the year as they meet the requirements,” said Mariam Naluunkuma, the IRA spokesperson.

The Insurance Act requires all insurance players to be licensed by the authority before transacting any businesses during the year.

Section 95 (1) requires that all those licensed under the Insurance Act display their licences prominently at the principal place of business and to display a copy of their license in each of their branch offices in Uganda.

Insurance sector premiums are set to hit sh435b for the 2013, a 24% growth, according to the IRA, due to lower inflation and declining commercial bank interest rates.

Gross premiums collected have continued to rise from sh296.8b in 2011 to sh351.2b in 2012, representing 23.7% and 18.48% growth for each year.

Nakasero Hospital struck off list of medical insurers

Nakasero Hospital applied for a license, however, several issues, including sudden tariff adjustments, unreasonably high drug charges and high professional fee charges have led to the hospital’s license not being renewed.

A document signed by Mariam Magala, the Uganda Insurers Association (UIA) boss and the Medical Insurers Committee, indicates that the hospital has been barred from offering medical insurance services. 

“What Nakasero is charging is too high for clients. We are still negotiating with them to get fair rates for clients,” Faith Ekudu, the Uganda Insurers Association spokesperson said.

There are more than 20 other hospitals around the country that have been licensed under the medical insurance scheme.

HMOs collect premiums from clients before referring them to licensed hospitals for treatment and related medical services.

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