Kenya to witness rise in travel insurance sector, experts believe

Experts believe the travel insurance sector is highly expected to witness a rise in the next 2 years as 2 in 5 Kenyans travelling outside the nation sign up for travel insurance. The rising threats in the countries people from Kenya travel to, extreme weather conditions and medical tourism have contributed to the increase in travel insurance sign ups.

According to Valiveti Kumar, the General Manager of Kenindia, the travel insurance will either cover or reimburse a customer for an unforeseen event happening before or during the trip. The price range will be about 1 percent to 12 percent of one's total trip cost, Valiveti Kumar said.

"Our customers have come to appreciate that the financial risks involved in a travel mishap outweigh the small cost of getting a travel insurance cover. For example, one takes their relative to India for a surgery but gets sick while there what happens? Sometimes one's health insurance doesn't cover the country or area they are travelling to hence it is important to have a peace of mind," he added.

The company, on the other hand, is set to roll out a mobile-based platform for purchasing policy aiming at tech-savvy youth. The platform is intended to provide users unbiased access to insurance information.

"We are looking at a digital system that will provide our current and potential customers tailor-made advice with instant quotes to enable a faster decision-making process. This system will help those self-directed consumers make their own insurance purchases. The traditional brick-and-mortar is not working for the younger consumers and insurers must explore new distribution channels to reach tech-savvy masses. Customers need information to enable them make informed decisions through their communication medium of choice," James Macharia, the COO, Kenindia said.