Insurance in Samoa

Samoa has an established private insurance market regulated under the Insurance Act 2007. The Central Bank of Samoa, whose Governor acts as Insurance Commissioner, licenses insurers, brokers and agents and supervises solvency, market conduct, customer protection and enforcement. Insurance business may be conducted only by a Samoa-registered company or a licensed parliamentary body. Life and general insurance require separate licences. The CBS list updated in April 2026 names Deseret Mutual Benefit LDS Church and Samoa Life Assurance Corporation as life insurers. General insurers include National Pacific Insurance/Tower Samoa, Apia Insurance Co Ltd, Federal Pacific Insurance Ltd, Samoa Surety Insurance Ltd and Pacifica General Insurance Co Ltd. Listed brokers include Marsh, Willis NZ, Lockton NZ Holdings and Samoa Insurance Brokers. Pacific Insurance Underwriters, the Samoa National Provident Fund and National Bank of Samoa are listed as corporate agents. Check the current licence status with the CBS before paying a premium or signing a policy. General insurance products include fire, motor vehicle, household, marine, professional indemnity and public liability cover. Personal products include life, whole life, endowment, money-back and term policies. Health or medical-cost cover can also be an insurance product, although medical treatment and health access are separate subjects. A policy determines the insured risk, sum insured, premium, duration, exclusions, conditions, excess and claim requirements. It does not automatically pay every loss. Insurance is normally arranged through a licensed insurer, broker or agent. An intermediary must identify the insurer and its business address, explain the cover and exclusions appropriately, provide a payment receipt and disclose fees in writing when asked. A broker must generally pass the premium to the insurer within 30 days, and an amount payable by a broker to an insured person must generally be paid within 7 days. Payment to an intermediary generally fulfils the policyholder's payment obligation to the insurer. Policies normally use Samoan Tala; another currency requires written approval from the Insurance Commissioner and agreement by all parties. A private claim should follow the policy and may be submitted to the insurer, broker or agent. Typical evidence includes the policy number, proof that premiums were paid, a loss report, assessments and documents showing ownership, police involvement or medical circumstances where relevant. Samoa has no single public deadline or central private-claims office identified in the available sources, so the policy and insurer's instructions control the process. Insurers must maintain policy and claims registers recording matters such as the claim number, date, amount and payment or rejection. The insurer's cancellation must be in writing. It generally cannot take effect earlier than 14 days after notice, or 28 days for a life policy, subject to the contract. An expiry notice generally requires at least 14 days, except for a life policy with a fixed maturity date. The policy may set separate rules for the customer's cancellation, renewal and insurer or broker change. A switch should be documented in writing, including the start of the new cover, any gap, premium, excess, exclusions and treatment of open claims. Life policies and prescribed policy types provide a 28-day right to decline or return the policy in circumstances such as objection, lack of need or inability to afford it. The premium should then be returned without deducting commission. A transfer, sale, amalgamation or change of controlling interest in an insurance business requires a Commissioner-approved scheme addressing policyholder effects. Statutory accident compensation is separate from private insurance. The Accident Compensation Corporation, established under the Accident Compensation Act 1989 and amended in 2003, covers defined work accidents, occupational disease and specified conveyance accidents. Eligibility generally depends on citizenship or lawful and ordinary residence; a non-resident lawfully employed in Samoa may qualify for Samoa wages. Non-workers qualify only in statutory special cases, especially specified conveyance accidents. Benefits can include medical treatment, rehabilitation, artificial aids, travel, approved overseas treatment, weekly loss of earnings, permanent impairment, care and living support, mobility support and death or funeral payments. Medical assessment, dependants and the covered event affect the result. Employers and workers each contribute 1 sene for every complete Tala of wages to fund accident compensation. A fuel levy of 5 sene per imperial gallon applies to conveyance fuel. Employers register using their Business Registration Number and NPF Number. The Act allows self-employed insurance to be voluntary or compulsory by regulation, but current implementation was not confirmed in the available sources. For an employment accident, the employer's report, the police report for a motor or sea-going accident, and written notice by the worker, relative or dependant generally have a maximum period of 5 days. The claim uses an approved form and requires a medical certificate, with further information or a statutory declaration where requested. The statutory exclusion period is 10 years from the accident or death. The ACC states that assessment often takes about 5 days, while a complete fatal claim can take up to 3 weeks. A review must be requested in writing; an appeal to the Supreme Court is limited to a question of law and must generally be filed within 28 days. Samoa's insurance market recorded gross premiums of Tala 26.0 million in financial year 2024/25: Tala 9.8 million for life insurance and Tala 16.2 million for general insurance. Within general insurance, fire accounted for Tala 5.7 million, motor for Tala 5.3 million and household cover for Tala 1.7 million. These are historical market figures, not current premium quotations. The Samoa National Provident Fund is a provident or savings system rather than social insurance, even though it is also listed as a licensed insurance agent. Public healthcare, bank products and general household costs do not become insurance merely because they help with a financial consequence.