Property
Buildings, stock, plant, fittings and tenants' improvements against fire, lightning, explosion and the perils named on the policy. Sums insured should reflect replacement cost, not book value.
Business insurance in Kenya
A motor policy is not a risk strategy. It is one line inside a wider profile that includes the building, the stock, the plant, the people, and the income that stops when any of them fails. This page maps the whole profile.
The risk map
Nine lines of commercial cover, each answering a different question. Most businesses need three or four of them, not all nine.
Business interruption
The income you lose while the business is out of action after an insured event, plus the extra cost of keeping some trade going. Priced on gross profit and the indemnity period you choose.
Liability
Public liability for injury or damage to third parties on your premises or caused by your operations. Employers' liability, product liability and professional indemnity sit alongside it where the exposure exists.
Contractors' all risks
A construction project insured as a project: works, materials on site, plant, and third-party liability for the duration of the contract. The cover a developer is usually asked to evidence before work starts.
Political violence and terrorism
Damage and interruption from riot, civil commotion, strike, malicious damage, terrorism and political violence. Frequently excluded from a standard fire policy, and frequently assumed to be included.
WIBA
The statutory cover for work injury and occupational disease, priced on declared payroll and the risk class of the work. The single line most Kenyan employers are asked about. Read the WIBA page.
Group personal accident
Fixed benefits for death, permanent disablement and temporary incapacity, paid to staff or their families. A benefit, not a liability cover — and usually arranged on top of WIBA rather than instead of it.
Fire and burglary
The combined commercial policy most SMEs actually buy: fire and allied perils, burglary and theft with forcible entry, and often money and glass. Simple to arrange, easy to under-insure.
Marine and goods in transit
Stock and equipment while it is moving — by road, rail, sea or air — and marine cargo for imports. The cover that matters most to traders and distributors, and the one most often left to chance.
Engineering
Machinery breakdown, electronic equipment, and machinery inspection. For a manufacturer, an uninsured breakdown is often a bigger threat than a fire.
SME or corporate
The difference is not the size of the premium. It is how the risk is written.
- SME
- A commercial package: property, burglary, money, glass, business interruption and public liability in one policy, one renewal date, one excess structure. Fast to arrange and easy to administer.
- Corporate
- Separately written lines, each underwritten on its own terms, with declared values, periodic adjustments and a claims-experience rating at renewal. More work, better fit.
- Both
- A schedule you can actually read, a named contact, and a renewal review rather than an automatic rollover.
Where a business sits between the two — growing fast, multiple sites, a fleet, or a single large exposure — the honest answer is usually a hybrid. We will say which lines should be separate and why.
By sector
The same nine covers, weighted differently. A contractor's biggest exposure is not a haulier's, and a school's is not a hotel's.
- Transport and fleet — commercial motor, passenger liability, goods in transit, WIBA for drivers and turnboys
- Construction and contractors — contractors' all risks, plant, public liability, WIBA, and performance-related bonds
- Schools and institutions — property, public liability, group personal accident for pupils and staff, WIBA
- Hotels and hospitality — property, business interruption, public liability, liquor liability, WIBA
- Agriculture and agri-processing — property, stock, machinery, transit, WIBA on seasonal payroll
- Manufacturing — property, machinery breakdown, business interruption, product liability, WIBA
- Retail and SME — commercial package, money, glass, goods in transit, WIBA
- NGOs and institutions — property, liability, group personal accident, motor for field vehicles
What we ask before quoting
Not to make the process longer. Because a commercial quote built on a guess is a quote that gets corrected at claim time.
- What the business owns, and where it is
- How the buildings are constructed, and what protects them
- What the business would lose per week if it stopped
- How many people work there, and what they do
- What moves — stock, goods, vehicles, people
- What has already happened: claims, near misses, incidents
Questions we are asked
What insurance does a Kenyan business need?
At minimum, WIBA cover for employees and motor cover for any vehicle on the road. Beyond that it depends on what the business owns: property and stock, plant and machinery, goods in transit, and the liability exposure created by premises, products or professional advice.
Do I need separate policies for each risk?
Not necessarily. A commercial package can combine property, business interruption and liability in one policy with one renewal date. Larger or more specialist risks are usually written separately because the underwriting is different.
What is business interruption cover?
It replaces the gross profit or income a business loses while it is out of action after an insured event, and covers the extra cost of keeping trading. It is the cover most SMEs do not have and most wish they had after a fire.
How much does business insurance cost in Kenya?
Property is rated against the sum insured, liability against limits and turnover, and WIBA against payroll. There is no single market rate. The figure depends on the risk, the construction, the protection and the claims history.
Can you cover a business in another county?
Yes. The offices are in Eldoret and Kitale, but cover is arranged for clients across Kenya. Most of the work is done by phone, WhatsApp and email.
Start with the exposure, not the product.
Tell us what the business owns, owes and would lose if it stopped. We will map that against the covers available and tell you where the real gaps are.