WIBA insurance for Kenyan employers
The Work Injury Benefits Act, 2007 places the duty to compensate an injured employee on the employer. That duty is not optional. Employers meet it by insuring, and an uninsured claim is paid from the business.
Who needs it
Anyone who employs people in Kenya. The Act is written around the employment relationship, not around the size of the business, the sector, or whether the work is done on a site or in an office.
| Employer | What drives the rate |
|---|---|
| Office, professional services | Payroll, with a low occupational risk class. The cheapest WIBA band in practice. |
| Retail, hospitality, schools | Payroll plus the risk of slips, lifting, kitchen and premises injury. |
| Manufacturing, workshops | Machinery, noise, dust, and prescribed occupational disease. Higher class. |
| Construction and contractors | Working at height, plant, excavation. Among the highest classes, and the one most often under-declared. |
| Transport and haulage | Drivers and turnboys, long routes, loading. Rates on payroll and on the fleet operation. |
| Farms and agri-processing | Seasonal headcount is the trap. Cover must reflect the peak payroll, not the quiet month. |
A common misconception: WIBA is not the same thing as the NHIF or SHIF contribution, and it is not the same as group personal accident cover. Three different obligations, three different policies.
What it covers, and what it does not
- Bodily injury from an accident arising out of, and in the course of, employment
- Prescribed occupational diseases — the ones listed under the Act
- Medical and treatment costs, within the limits
- Compensation for temporary incapacity while the employee is off work
- Compensation for permanent incapacity, assessed as a degree of disablement
- Death benefits, paid to dependants
- An injury that does not arise out of the employment
- An employee who was never declared on the policy or the payroll return
- Self-inflicted injury, or injury sustained while committing an offence
- Amounts above the statutory or policy limits
- The employer's reputational and operational cost of the accident, which no policy pays
The Act is the source, not this page. Read it at Kenya Law, which publishes the consolidated text of the Work Injury Benefits Act, 2007 (No. 13 of 2007).
When someone is hurt
The employer carries the first obligations, and they are mostly about records. A claim is built from what was written down on the day, not from what everyone remembers three weeks later.
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Treat the injury first
Get the employee to a hospital. Nothing on this page matters more than that.
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Record it the same day
Accident register entry, time, place, what happened, who witnessed it, and what the employee was doing. This single record decides most disputed claims.
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Notify us and the authority
Tell us in writing promptly so the underwriter can be notified within the required period, and file the employer's report with the Director of Occupational Safety and Health Services.
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Follow the medical assessment
Where there is permanent incapacity, the degree of disablement is medically assessed. That assessment, not the employer's view, sets the compensation.
The gaps we find most often
- Seasonal staff left off. A farm declares twelve permanent employees and employs eighty at harvest. The seventy-eight are not covered.
- Contractors on site treated as someone else's problem. If they are working under your direction, the question of who employs them is exactly the question a claim will turn on.
- Payroll declared once and never revised. Wages rise, the policy does not, and the premium is short at the point of claim.
- WIBA bought as a substitute for group personal accident. They do different jobs. Buying one and calling it the other leaves a benefit gap that staff notice immediately.
This page provides general information about the Work Injury Benefits Act, 2007 and WIBA insurance in Kenya. It is not legal advice. Cover is subject to the terms, conditions, exclusions and limits of the applicable policy and to the provisions of the Act. Where this page and the Act differ, the Act governs.
Questions we are asked
Is WIBA mandatory in Kenya?
The Work Injury Benefits Act, 2007 places the duty to compensate an injured employee on the employer. That duty is not optional. Employers meet it by insuring, and an uninsured claim is paid from the business. If you employ people, treat WIBA cover as part of the cost of employing them.
What does WIBA cover?
Bodily injury caused by an accident arising out of and in the course of employment, and prescribed occupational diseases. It pays medical costs and compensation for temporary or permanent incapacity, and death benefits to dependants, within the limits set by the Act.
How is WIBA premium calculated?
On declared annual payroll multiplied by a rate per unit of payroll, with the rate set by the occupational risk class of the work. Office staff rate lower than factory, construction or transport work. Undeclared staff are not covered.
What happens if I do not have WIBA cover?
A work injury still creates a liability. Without a policy the employer meets it from its own funds, and the claim is pursued through the Director of Occupational Safety and Health Services. The exposure is uncapped by any policy limit because there is no policy.
Does WIBA replace group personal accident cover?
No. They answer different questions. WIBA responds to the statutory liability an employer owes an employee. Group personal accident pays a fixed benefit on defined events, and is usually arranged as a staff benefit on top of WIBA rather than instead of it.
Can I add staff during the year?
Yes, but the addition must be declared. Premium is adjusted on the payroll you actually employ. Staff who join and are never declared are the most common gap we find when a claim is made.
Tell us your headcount and your trade.
WIBA is priced on payroll and on the work your people do. Give us both and you get a real figure rather than a range.