Boda Boda Riders to Get Access to Affordable Insurance
Boda Boda Integrated Management System (IMS), a company committed to addressing public safety, transport, and security challenges for boda boda riders has partnered with Lami Technologies, an insurtech start-up to launch affordable motor and personal accident insurance for riders in Kenya. Through the partnership, IMS is aiming to reach over 2,000,000 riders and 1515 active Saccos currently registered on its platform.
Boda Boda IMS was founded in 2017 with a mission to save lives using road safety technologies and to ensure that boda boda riders are safe, secure, orderly, reliable, and can be converted into a sustainable sector of public transport in Kenya. The partnership will enable IMS to have access to affordable and relevant insurance products that have been tailor-made to its needs by Lami’s insurance as a service and Application Programming Interface (API) platform. Lami’s in-depth experience in the digitization of insurance distribution will also allow IMS riders and Saccos to easily interact with its insurance product making the process seamless and efficient.
According to an article by The Exchange earlier this year, there are 2.4 million boda boda operators who ride 22 million daily trips making KSH1.2 billion daily, making the sector crucial to the economy of the country. Only 30 percent of the riders have undergone training in a registered driving school, and 65 percent are not insured. Affordability is one the biggest barriers to insurance penetration in Kenya, often riders are required to make a one-off payment and are quoted sums beyond their reach creating an avoidance of insurance uptake. With this partnership, Lami has negotiated affordable insurance rates with underwriters and insurance providers allowing IMS to finance insurance premiums and providing payment options such as installments for riders, easing the purchasing process for all boda boda owners.
Dr, Nick Moseti, CEO, Boda Boda IMS said, “We commend Lami for their innovative insurance solutions towards boda boda’s, we have been able to access affordable insurance digitally which has made our work very easy. Thier technology is very efficient and has given us a great and efficient experience. I would recommend Lami to any organization looking to pattern with a digital insurance platform.”
Waithera Thinguri, Head of Business Growth, Lami Technologies said, “Boda boda’s are critical to Kenya’s transport system and fill a gap in the absence of reliable, efficient transport in both urban and rural areas in Kenya. As such, we are very honored to have partnered with IMS Boda Boda in leveraging our technology to provide affordable and relevant insurance for riders in Kenya, an integral part of Kenya’s transport sector. The solution satisfies a growing need to improve insurance uptake in the country by packaging policies and to offer it to clients seamlessly.”
Lami Technologies was founded in 2018 to address the problem of low insurance uptake in Africa. Despite having 17% of the world’s population, Africa is among the world’s most underinsured places. Using technology and innovation, they work with platform partners to create and distribute affordable insurance products to African underserved populations.
Since the inception of the partnership, Lami has onboarded 300 riders onto their comprehensive insurance. Both companies have worked together to develop a process that ensures motor certificates are issued within five minutes of the application time.