Inside a claim:
the road from first notice to settlement.

A claim is not a single moment; it is a process, and in Uganda it runs on a clock set by the Insurance Regulatory Authority. The regulator's claims guidelines fix indicative timelines for every step, from acknowledgment to payment, and the Insurance (Licensing and Governance) Regulations 2020 require insurers to handle claims promptly, fairly and transparently, to keep the claimant informed, and to settle promptly once terms are agreed. Knowing the stages and their deadlines is the single most useful thing a policyholder can bring to a claim — it tells you what should happen next, and what to ask for when it does not.

1. First notice — and what to have ready

The clock starts at claim intimation — your notification to the insurer that a loss has happened. Policies set their own reporting conditions, and prompt notice is itself a condition in most wordings, so the first call should come immediately after protecting the property and, where the loss is a crime, notifying the police. At first notice the insurer expects: what happened, when and where, what was lost or damaged, the document numbers and the policy details. Two practical habits make every later stage smoother — write down the name of the person you spoke to and the reference for the claim, and gather the evidence while it is fresh: photographs, receipts, invoices, stock records, and the contact details of anyone who witnessed the loss.

2. Acknowledgment and documents (3 working days)

Under the IRA guidelines, the insurer should acknowledge the claim and correspond with you, and collect the necessary documentation, within 3 working days of intimation. Expect a list of what is required — the policy schedule, proof of ownership or purchase, police reports for the relevant losses, trading records where stock is claimed, and the incident report. The guideline's purpose is to kill the silent gap: a claim that goes unacknowledged while the insured waits is the pattern the regulator's own complaints bureau sees most often.

3. The site visit and the assessor (3 working days)

Most claims of any size attract a site visit or the appointment of an external loss assessor. The guideline is that the visit, or the appointment, should happen within 3 working days of the claim so that the scene is examined while the evidence is intact; complex claims requiring a foreign assessor get up to 5 working days. The assessor is the independent professional who verifies the loss — the person whose photographs and report the settlement is built upon. Cooperate openly, and preserve the damaged property and its surroundings until the inspection is done: moving or repairing the vehicle, or clearing the site, before the assessor has seen it is a common and avoidable cause of friction.

4. Investigation and the reports (3 days, then up to 20 working days)

Once appointed, the assessor gathers the evidence: documents, site records, witness statements, market values, policy interpretation. The guidance fixes an interim adjustment report within 3 working days of appointment, where warranted, and the final adjustment or investigation report within 20 working days of receiving the supporting documents. Between reports the insurer should give progress updates at least every 5 working days. If the claim requires deeper investigation — a fraud inquiry, a contested liability, a complex quantum — the timeline is set in consultation with the assessor and documented. If those updates stop coming, that itself is information: a claim that goes silent after the assessment has stalled, and that is worth a call.

5. Settlement offer or repudiation (5 working days)

With the final report in hand, the insurer's obligation crystallises: it must make a settlement offer, or communicate a repudiation, within 5 working days of receiving the final adjustment or investigation report (or, where no assessment was needed, from receiving the final supporting documents). A repudiation must be communicated with reasons. Where the amount offered reflects the assessed loss, the process moves to payment; where it does not, the claim enters negotiation — and that is where an honest, documented file is the policyholder's strongest position.

6. Payment — the discharge voucher and the tiers

Settlement follows the acceptance of the offer and the signing of a discharge voucher, which confirms the amount is accepted in full satisfaction. The insurer then pays within working-day tiers set by the guidelines: up to UGX 10 million within 10 working days of receiving the signed voucher; above UGX 10 million up to UGX 50 million within 15 working days; and above UGX 50 million within 20 working days, or on the insurer's receipt of the reinsurance cash call, whichever comes first. Salvage and subrogation rights are attended to at the same point — the insurer's recovery from responsible third parties is a normal incident of settlement and should not delay payment.

If a claim goes off the rails

The safety nets are formalised. Every licensed insurer must maintain a claims register and a complaints policy. A dissatisfied policyholder may complain to the insurer, then escalate to the IRA Complaints Bureau, and ultimately to the Insurance Appeals Tribunal for disputes that survive the insurer's process. The regulator's figures show the scale of the problem and its reach: in a recent year complaints ran beyond 350, with the large majority resolved — involving hundreds of millions of shillings in disputed claims. Claims do not end with the voucher; the process was built to keep them moving, and it works when both sides use it.