Insurance in Botswana

Botswana’s insurance system includes contractual cover bought from licensed providers and statutory protection for specific events. Private insurance can cover life, funeral expenses, disability, health, property, motor vehicles, liability, legal expenses, engineering, transport, guarantees and other defined risks. General insurance includes accident, engineering, health, property, guarantee, liability, miscellaneous, motor and transportation classes. Long-term insurance includes disability, health, fund and life business. Life insurance accounted for about 80% of insurer assets and 69% of insurance revenue in 2023; short-term insurance accounted for 31%. Property and motor insurance are particularly relevant parts of general insurance. The Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority, abbreviated NBFIRA, regulates insurers, reinsurers, brokers, corporate agents, representatives and other non-bank financial institutions in this market. The main legal framework is the Insurance Industry Act 2015, which took effect on 17 May 2019, together with the Insurance Industry Regulations 2019, administrative rules and Policyholder Protection Rules. The former 1987 Act was repealed. On 31 March 2024, the market contained 251 licensed entities: 7 reinsurers, 10 life insurers, 13 general insurers, 69 insurance brokers, 147 corporate agents and 5 medical aid funds. Private cover can be arranged only through a licensed insurer, broker, agent or representative. An insurer generally has to be a Botswana-resident company whose sole business is insurance, with resident fit-and-proper management and the required capital. Before signing, check the provider against NBFIRA’s licensing information. Botswana residents and companies generally place insurance with a Botswana insurer or reinsurer. A foreign placement is available only where the required class is not available locally, and it requires a broker and prior NBFIRA approval. Intermediaries have disclosure duties. A broker, agent or other intermediary has to disclose commission or remuneration to a prospective policyholder, and valuable inducements for taking out, continuing, changing or cancelling a policy are prohibited. A representative may act for only one licensed insurer, broker or agent. The relevant insurer, broker or agent remains responsible for the representative’s actions in the course of that work. A broker may collect premiums only under a written agreement, and payment to an authorised broker counts as payment to the insurer for the policyholder. Premiums received by a broker belong in a separate premium trust account. Read the policy wording before signing. Check the insured risk, sum insured, limits, excess, exclusions, waiting periods, loadings, penalties, restrictions, claim-notification rules, renewal, cancellation, beneficiaries and payment frequency. The Policyholder Protection Rules require contract disclosure and a general policy format, and they prohibit signing blank or incomplete forms. Material information has to be disclosed accurately; misrepresentation can affect cover or a claim. An unclear exclusion should not be interpreted more broadly than its wording supports under the applicable policyholder-protection rules. Premiums are risk-based and depend on the policy, so Botswana has no single national tariff or universal premium. Payments are made in Botswana pula. The first or single premium generally has to be received for cover to begin; non-payment can suspend cover. A follow-up premium normally receives at least a 30-day grace period, and a lapse notice must generally be given at least 15 days beforehand. For a general policy, non-payment after the grace period can end cover retrospectively on the last day of the preceding period. A long-term policy can instead involve continuation under the rules, a paid-up policy, reinstatement, alteration or surrender, depending on its remaining value and wording. The research reviewed does not establish a general statutory cooling-off period for private insurance. Botswana does not have a broadly implemented contributory national sickness, unemployment or maternity insurance scheme evidenced in the reviewed official material. Workers’ compensation and the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund provide important statutory alternatives for specific situations. An employer has to secure its legal liability for work injuries and occupational disease within the employment scope. The protection covers employees including farm workers, domestic workers, security guards, private-sector workers, parastatal employees and government employees. An employee should report an incident immediately and no later than 10 days where the statutory limit applies; the employer’s report to the Department of Labour and Social Security or the Department of Occupational Health and Safety is due within 17 days through BL 43/10. A claim to the Labour Office can generally be filed within 12 months and is free. Evidence can include statements, an employer letter, a medical form, a police report for a road crash or assault, and a post-mortem or death certificate. The Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, or MVA Fund, is a statutory scheme for personal injuries caused by road crashes in Botswana and is excluded from the Insurance Industry Act. Residents receive statutory cover subject to the scheme’s limits, with benefits of up to P1,000,000. A negligent party’s medical treatment and rehabilitation liability is capped at P300,000 under the stated regime. Visitors can receive treatment and rehabilitation during their stay in Botswana but do not receive a substitute for travel insurance. Foreign vehicles require third-party cover when entering Botswana. MVA Fund benefits can include medical care, rehabilitation, loss of income, loss of support, funeral expenses, incidental expenses and quality-of-life support. The scheme excludes matters such as illegal-area incidents, fraud and business-profit or investment losses, and it can seek recovery from drivers involved with drunken, reckless, unlicensed, defective or stolen vehicles and from certain vehicle owners. For a private claim, notify the insurer or broker in writing according to the policy and preserve the policy, payment evidence, identity documents and event-specific evidence. Depending on the risk, this may include medical records, police reports, repair estimates, proof of ownership, witness statements or death documents. The reviewed material does not establish one general statutory deadline for every private insurer’s claim decision. MVA Fund and workers’ compensation claims follow their own statutory procedures rather than the ordinary private-policy procedure. A complaint should first go in writing to the regulated insurer, broker or agent and then to its principal officer. If the entity does not acknowledge the complaint within 10 working days or fails to resolve it, the complainant can approach NBFIRA with the facts, requested remedy, complete correspondence and personal, identity-card or passport details. NBFIRA’s stated complaint tiers allow 10 working days for Tier 1, 35 for Tier 2, 85 for Tier 3 and 150 for Tier 4. An appeal can proceed to the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Tribunal. Court enforcement against a Botswana insurer takes place in Botswana under the Act, and the Act provides possible damages or representative-action remedies for certain breaches. Report changes to the risk, vehicle, address, use, beneficiary or health information as soon as the policy requires. Do not assume that a general policy renews automatically beyond its grace period without a specific renewal instruction. Before changing a long-term policy, compare its remaining value, paid-up option, surrender value and reinstatement terms. Medical aid funds were operating under exemption letters pending a legislative framework in 2024, so health insurance, medical aid and any future National Health Insurance arrangement should not be treated as identical. Retirement funds and banking remain separate subjects, while the MVA Fund is a statutory functional alternative rather than a private NBFIRA-regulated insurer.