Insurance Agent Licence Fees and Charges in Kenya

An insurance agent is an individual or corporate entity appointed by one or more insurance companies to solicit and procure insurance business on their behalf. In Kenya, all agents must be licensed annually by the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA). With the largest registered population of any intermediary category — numbering in the thousands — agents are the primary distribution channel for retail insurance products across the country.

Fees and Charges

Fee / Charge	Current Amount (KES)	Proposed Amount — Draft Regs 2025 (KES)
Licence fee (new & renewal)	1,000	10,000
Late renewal penalty	1,000	—

Annual licences must be renewed on or before 30 September of each year.

Qualification Requirements

Requirement	Details
Insurance qualification	Certificate of Proficiency (COP), Executive COP (ECOP), COP exemption from College of Insurance, or a recognized insurance professional qualification, or BCom (Insurance Option) from a recognized university
Representation limit	A Principal Officer may represent only one insurance entity at a time
Identification	National ID or valid passport
Corporate agents	Certificate of registration of business names or certificate of incorporation

Key Conditions

Agents act on behalf of and under the authority of the insurer(s) that appoint them. They do not hold client funds independently, and their professional obligations run to the insurer rather than constituting independent advice. An agent wishing to represent multiple insurers in different classes may do so, provided each appointing insurer submits a separate appointment. The IRA processes agent applications through the eCitizen portal; bulk payments by insurers are not supported and agents must pay individually. The draft Insurance Regulations 2025 propose raising the annual agent licence fee from KES 1,000 to KES 10,000, a tenfold increase that reflects the growing regulatory workload involved in supervising the large and increasingly digitised agent network. Regulated by the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) under the Insurance Act, Cap. 487, Laws of Kenya.

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