{"id":845136,"date":"2025-12-01T11:40:56","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T09:40:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=845136"},"modified":"2026-03-09T08:19:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T06:19:40","slug":"south-african-insurer-launching-in-the-uk-next-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/845136\/south-african-insurer-launching-in-the-uk-next-month\/","title":{"rendered":"South African insurer launching in the UK next month"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Santam has received approval to launch a new syndicate in the UK from 1 January 2026.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Santam Syndicate 1918, a new venture for South Africa\u2019s largest short-term insurer, has been granted final permission to underwrite for Lloyd\u2019s commencing 1 January 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Santam received in-principle approval to establish the syndicate in July, subject to meeting Lloyd\u2019s prescribed start-up operational requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the past five months, Santam has focused on building the necessary foundations, appointing an experienced executive team, recruiting skilled professionals and ensuring operational stability.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rob Vetch is the CEO and CFO of the new company and comes with 30 years in the global (re)insurance market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simon Clapham, with over 45 years of market experience, is Chief Underwriting Officer and Active Underwriter.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Richard Weston, with 25 years of experience in the London market, serves as both the Chief Actuary and the Chief Risk Officer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Carla Jordan, who has 25 years\u2019 experience in reinsurance and insurance, is the Chief Engagement and Portfolio Officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The initial underwriting focus of the business will include the following classes of business:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Property \u2013 International and North America Open Market and Binders<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Marine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Energy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Political Violence and Terrorism<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Financial Institutions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Professional Indemnity<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cyber<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The planned Gross Written Premium for 2026 is expected to be in excess of \u00a3300 million (R6.8 billion).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Santam said that the Syndicate 1918 is positioned to accelerate the group\u2019s international growth ambitions and diversification strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lloyd\u2019s is the world\u2019s leading insurance marketplace, and brings together participants offering specialist insurance products from over 200 territories.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Operating as a partially mutualised marketplace, Lloyd\u2019s enables multiple members, through syndicates, to provide capital and underwrite insurance risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cInternational growth and diversification is a key component of our FutureFit2030 strategy,\u201d said Tavaziva Madzinga, the Santam Group CEO.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLaunching a Lloyd\u2019s syndicate is the most efficient and scalable platform to pursue this business goal. Santam Syndicate 1918 is a major step in realising our international ambitions and transforming the Santam Group.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/lloyds-e1764581367502.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/lloyds-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-845137\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lloyd&#8217;s Expansive Underwriting Room in London<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>Correction made<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Santam has received final approvals to set up a UK-based Syndicate, with it looking to underwrite businesses. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":812737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[10423,341],"class_list":["post-845136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-lloyds","tag-santam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=845136"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":853274,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845136\/revisions\/853274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=845136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=845136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=845136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}