NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 14 – A total of 300 flood-affected households in Madogo Ward, Tana River County, will benefit from Sh14.1 million as compensation for their losses, courtesy of Britam and Swiss.
The victims will be compensated following the recent flooding in Upper Tana under the Index-Based Flood Insurance (IBFI) policy, designed to cushion small-scale farmers residing in flood-prone areas from the catastrophic effects of floods.
The IBFI policy, developed using data modeling and satellite imagery to pre-determine flood thresholds and provide coverage at an affordable cost, was launched earlier this year in partnership between Britam, Oxfam in Kenya, and global reinsurer Swiss Re.
Other players in the partnership include Risk Shield and Arid Lands Development Focus (ALDEF), which is Oxfam’s implementing partner in the Upper Tana.
Britam Group Managing Director and CEO Tom Gitogo said that Britam is committed to ESG goals of safeguarding dreams and aspirations as well as enhancing the resilience of vulnerable communities to enable them to rebuild their lives after a disaster.
“At Britam, we will not hesitate to step into the unknown if it enhances the resilience of the vulnerable within our community,” said Gitogo.
Britam Director for Emerging Market Consumers, Saurabh Sharma, explained that IBFI differs from traditional insurance products because it relies on technology-based innovations to predict the possibility of floods and thereby pay claims quickly.
“We measure rainfall using satellite data, and within two days we can determine whether a rainfall will trigger flooding or not. The Tana River water level is measured using automated water gauges with data being available hourly within a day of the incident,” said Saurabh, Director for Emerging Market Consumers at Britam.
Under the partnership, Oxfam funds Sh7,000 per year in premiums for each of the 300 vulnerable households in Upper Tana to facilitate payment to the households insured under the policy, while Risk Shield analyzes the river level and satellite data to determine the amount of compensation to be paid.
Swiss conducts reviews and approves the determined payout, which paves the way for Britam to release compensation to Oxfam, the master policyholder.
“This claim payout demonstrates that insurance can be an effective approach to transforming disaster response in the region,” said David Abudho, Social Protection Strategist at Oxfam in Kenya.
Swiss Re Head of Solutions Western & Southern Europe, Annkathrin Stephan, added that the payout, the first of its kind under the flood parametric policy in Kenya, underscored their commitment to building resilience against adverse climatic conditions by partnering with firms such as Britam.
“The focus of our efforts has been to make the underlying solution accessible to communities at large and include features that enable fast claim settlement which is aligned with Swiss Re’s commitment to make the world more resilient,” he said.
