Woman Cries Foul After Losing Sh540,000 In Britam Akiba Saving Plan

A Nairobi woman has lost Sh540,000 she paid into Britam Holdings’ Akiba Savings Plan after her policy lapsed when a sudden job loss left her unable to keep up with monthly premiums of Sh90,000, according to a video she posted on social media.

In the six-minute clip, the woman says a friend who had invested in the same product convinced her it was a safe, long-term savings vehicle for her children’s future, with life cover attached.

When she lost her job and could no longer make payments, her agent told her she would have to clear the arrears in full before the policy could be reinstated.

When she escalated the matter to Britam’s customer care desk, she was told her entire Sh540,000 had been forfeited. “Where did it go? This was supposed to be an investment that makes profit,” she says in the recording.

Britam Holdings Plc, listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, is Kenya’s largest life insurer by market share, holding a 25 per cent share of the life insurance market for the eighteenth consecutive year as at December 2024.

The group posted a pre-tax profit of Sh7.33 billion in the year ended December 31 2024, a 52 per cent increase from Sh4.82 billion the year before, on total assets of Sh208.5 billion.

The Akiba plan is an endowment product that combines a savings element with life cover. Britam markets it as a “risk-free” instrument that pays a guaranteed lump sum at maturity, with policy terms of between five and twelve years and a minimum monthly premium of Sh5,000.

According to the product’s terms, a surrender benefit is available only from the end of the twenty-fifth policy month. A policy that lapses before that point carries no cash surrender value, meaning premiums already paid are absorbed into the insurer’s reserves to cover administrative charges, agent commissions and mortality costs.

The distinction matters because endowment products are routinely sold by agents to customers who may not fully understand that the product is a long-term contractual commitment, not a liquid savings account.

Industry practitioners say the consequences of a lapse before the two-year threshold are rarely explained in plain language at the point of sale.

A STRUCTURAL MISMATCH

The viral case sits against a difficult economic backdrop. Formal employment accounts for only 15 per cent of Kenya’s total workforce of 20.8 million, with the informal sector employing an estimated 17.4 million people, according to KNBS data from the 2025 Economic Survey.

Real wages in the private sector declined in inflation-adjusted terms for the fifth consecutive year in 2024, with real average annual earnings falling to Sh689,300 against Sh694,000 the year before.

For workers in the formal sector, income shocks such as sudden retrenchment are not covered by endowment policies, which protect only against death during the policy term.

Premium waiver on disability is a separate optional rider, and unemployment is not covered under standard terms.

Consumer advocacy groups have for years argued that endowment products sold to lower-to-middle income earners carry a structural mismatch: the payment discipline they demand is inconsistent with the income volatility that characterises much of Kenya’s workforce.

Comments under the viral video reflect similar experiences. Several users said they had also been unable to access any refund after defaulting on Britam Akiba policies, with one noting that even an attempt to surrender the policy mid-term would result in the loss of most premiums paid to date.

Another said Britam’s statements showed unexplained deductions that had not been adequately explained by the insurer.

WHAT THE POLICY ACTUALLY PROVIDES

The Akiba plan’s maturity benefit is the sum assured, paid as a lump sum at the end of the term. In the event of the policyholder’s death before maturity, a waiver of premium provision keeps the policy in force and guarantees payment of the maturity benefit. An optional lump sum death rider can be added, up to a maximum equal to the sum assured on the main benefit. Policy loans are available from the twenty-fifth month. Tax relief on premiums of up to Sh60,000 annually is available under the Income Tax Act.

The plan does not cover retrenchment, salary cuts, or any other income disruption short of death or disability.

The product literature does not include an illustration of what a policyholder would recover if they were forced to exit before completing twenty-five months of payments, a scenario that for many savers on volatile incomes is a realistic risk.

The Insurance Regulatory Authority, which supervises all licensed underwriters under the Insurance Act Cap 487, has a statutory consumer disputes mechanism under Section 204A of the Act. Aggrieved policyholders can lodge a written complaint with the Commissioner of Insurance, whose determination is subject to appeal to the Insurance Tribunal within thirty days. In recent years the IRA has issued fines to several insurers for failure to honour claims, but has not published any specific directive on endowment lapse disclosure standards.

BRITAM DECLINES TO COMMENT

Kenya Insights sent written queries to Britam’s head of communications and to the group’s corporate affairs department seeking comment on the specific complaint, the company’s reinstatement policy for lapsed Akiba policies, and whether the group was reviewing how lapse consequences are disclosed at point of sale. No response was received before publication time.

The IRA was similarly contacted for comment on whether existing regulations require insurers to provide a surrender value projection at point of sale for endowment products. No response was received.

Financial sector practitioners say the complaint is unlikely to be isolated. Because Britam has more than 2,500 financial advisors selling products across the country, the Akiba plan has penetrated deep into the middle-income and lower-middle-income segments where income volatility is highest.

Industry insiders say agents are incentivised on new business written, with limited accountability for policy persistency, creating a structural incentive to sell without adequately stress-testing a prospective client’s ability to sustain premiums over a five-to-twelve year horizon.

OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO AFFECTED POLICYHOLDERS

Policyholders who have passed the twenty-fifth month threshold can surrender their policies for a cash value, though the amount recovered will be substantially less than total premiums paid, particularly in the early years of the contract. Those who believe they were not adequately informed of lapse terms at point of sale can file a written complaint with Britam’s customer service department, and if unsatisfied, escalate to the IRA’s dispute resolution desk. The IRA’s complaints line is 0800 723 225.

Alternative savings products in the Kenyan market that carry daily liquidity and no minimum commitment period include money market funds. Britam itself operates a money market fund under its asset management division. Other providers include Sanlam, ICEA Lion, CIC, and the Co-operative Bank unit trust platform, among others.