Evelyne Mukiri was driving along Mombasa Road one morning last week when, somewhere between Southfield and Cabanas, traffic police flagged her down.
Curiously, she recalls spotting several officers along the stretch that day. But it barely registered as unusual. If anything, she assumed a politician might be expected to pass.
The two officers waved her over, and that was the beginning of her woes.
“They (officers) told me there was something about my car that they needed to confirm,” she narrated. “Then they told me my insurance is not valid. They told me that Trident Insurance, which had insured my car, was under receivership.”
However, her experience is not an isolated case but reflects a growing pattern on Kenyan roads, where motorists insured by companies recently placed under statutory management say they are being flagged, fined or detained despite holding policies they believe are still valid.
Mukiri had renewed her insurance in February after arriving back in the country. “I didn’t have an idea that the insurance had been placed under statutory management. Even my agent did not notify me,” she said.
“I had to get cash from a few friends to bail me out. I had to get like Sh10,000 for cash bail,” she said.
Her car was driven to Embakasi Police Station, where she says she also incurred additional costs.
Mukiri had just come from meeting a client and was headed to another. But both plans had to be cancelled.
“And I had to wait until the system was cleared,” the police told her, adding to the inconvenience she suffered “for simply being a loyal client of Trident.”
Then there is Wanjiru Kuria, who was among the newest car owners in February. Her car was only days old in February when it was involved in an accident. Everything was new to her. The vehicle, the policy, and the shock of a first crash. On top of the emotional toll, she had just paid for a full-year insurance cover.
Now, she is unsure what comes next. The car is hers, she says, and “must be repaired either way, even if it means I’ll foot it by myself”.
Together with Kuscco Mutual Assurance Limited and Corporate Insurance Company, Trident Insurance Company Limited was placed under statutory management by the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) from March 11, with the Policyholders Compensation Fund (PCF) appointed as statutory manager.
The regulator said the move was meant to safeguard the interests of policyholders, creditors and the public, and to stop further accumulation of risks and liabilities.
While advising existing policyholders to seek alternative covers from other licensed insurers “to ensure that there is no unnecessary exposure”, the authority barred Trident from issuing new policies from March 11, 2026.
“The Policyholders Compensation Fund will compensate the affected claimants as provided for under the Insurance Act, Cap 487 Laws of Kenya,” IRA said in a notice.
Despite several regulatory interventions, at the time of being placed under the statutory management, the authority said that the firms “did not demonstrate sufficient capacity to restore compliance within the stipulated timelines”.
Customers of the three insurers are expected to start receiving compensation of up to Sh500,000 from mid-July. The PCF says it will begin receiving claims within weeks, with payouts to follow after a 90-day processing window.
However, online, frustration has been building. Motorists complain of being harassed by traffic police. And many like Mukiri have found themselves in the same predicament.
“So Trident Insurance goes under receivership and not a single clear notice to clients? I only found out after being arrested and fined for ‘no insurance.’ This is gross negligence. Customers deserve proper communication, not punishment for your failure. Fix this mess. Compensate,” Isaac, an X user, lamented.
“When a company like Trident goes under, the Insurance Regulatory Authority should automatically flag all affected plates to the police as pending, rather than ‘illegal.’ Instead, they leave the data messy so traffic cops can exploit the gap and collect fines for the government. amkeni!,” Roy posted.
“Kuna watu wengi wa Trident Insurance hawana habari, their insurance was cancelled. Traffic cops are having a field day with them,” Jose wrote on April 4, nearly three weeks after the insurers were placed under management.
Efforts to get a comprehensive response from the police were unsuccessful by the time of publication, despite a detailed list of questions sent to the National Police Service addressing enforcement, legality, and allegations of harassment.
Police spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga did not respond substantively to the issues raised, instead saying: “I am out of town... Get a statement from the Insurance Regulatory Authority. When back in the office, we should be able to reach out.”
