Newly launched short-term insurance company, Sure Insurance, has lifted off with a robust capital base, following Botswana Insurance Holdings Limited’s (BIHL) injection of P25 million into the start up.
The cash injection has been spread over three years to maintain a solid solvency margin.
Surplus funds for the new venture will be managed by Bifm, a specialist company that is also part of the BIHL group, said John Haenen, the newly-appointed chief executive officer of Sure Insurance.
Speaking at the launch of Sure Insurance, Haenen said the company already operates out of 12 offices spread throughout Botswana with the main office located in Gaborone. He said some premises are shared with sister companies, but are infrastructurally separate.
He further revealed that the core operating system in use is a newly-commissioned customized package solution, adding that it runs independently of all other systems in the Group, but shares some hardware platforms.
“Financial management is achieved from within the system,” he said.
On the products of the company, he said there is Business-Sure, which is a versatile policy that can be adapted to suit any business no matter how large or small. He added that they do not believe that one size fits all and urged them to tailor each policy to fit the needs of individual clients. He highlighted that, if necessary, Sure will build a policy from scratch to deal with specific requirements.
“If you want cheap insurance you are likely to get cheap insurance. We prefer to be competitive rather than cheap. That means we look very carefully at your business before we offer a price that reflects what it is that your business does and how well you look after it. You should not be paying more because your competitors do not manage their risks as well as you do and for that reason we do not average our rates across the board, but instead reward the businesses that take good care of themselves,” he said.
He said Sure understands that the real cost of a loss is usually more than can be recovered from insurance and added that for that reason they work with their clients to find the best and most cost effective ways to prevent those things from going wrong in the first place.
Haenen said over the past years the Legal Guard product has proved itself to be the most desirable legal expenses insurance policy in Botswana. He said it is available in different packages, designed to suit individual lifestyles and pockets.
“Our HomeSure Policy offers exceptionally wide cover at an affordable price. We listened to what clients are saying and there are flexible payment arrangements. We can accommodate any installment plan or premium frequency that is convenient to you,” he explained.
BIHLIC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the BIHL Group and is listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange. BIHL Group also owns 100 percent of Botswana Life, the country’s dominant life assurer, and 26 percent of the Letshego Group, which is a personal loans provider.
Also BIHLIC has a flat management structure to allow for rapid decision-making and action. Operationally, the business is separated into two divisions, one dealing with general business and the other with specialist business.