25th November 2019

MENA

A Story of Success and Promising Growth

Gulf Insurance Group K.S.C.P (gig) was established in 1962. It is a public shareholding company listed on the Boursa Kuwait and a consistent market leader in Kuwait in terms of premiums written with operations in life and non-life, as well as, takaful insurance - Islamic insurance based on Shariah principles.

gig is among the largest and most diversified insurance groups in the Middle East and North Africa region. The group is one of the leading private insurers with a strong competitive market position in Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and Egypt. Furthermore, the group has operations in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

gig's mission is investing in bringing rewarding experiences to clients, building loyalty with employees, growing in excellence and expertise with shareholders and serving the community as responsible, committed citizens.

gig enjoys the privilege of being the first triple-rated insurance group in Kuwait. Its high ratings reflect gig’s strengthened risk-adjusted capitalisation, its excellent regional business profile, a robust track record of underwriting profitability and improved risk management.

With a customer-centric approach, gig offers a range of products and services involving various classes of insurance: Motor, Marine & Aviation, Property & Casualty, Engineering and Life & Health including both conventional and takaful options. The products and services are designed and developed in collaboration with leading international insurance and reinsurance companies to meet individuals’ and corporate customers’ insurance requirements.

From origin to excellence

For 57 years, Gulf Insurance Group has been part of Kuwait & its people’s lives. The organisation has witnessed both the good and bad times for the nation, and has always believed that relationships are one of the most valuable things in life. In 2012, the decision was taken to unite the group under one flag, one name and one brand - the Gulf Insurance Group.

The ultimate objective was to be recognised as a regional Arabian Insurance group from this region, for this region; with excellent offerings & standards. gig believes that real value is in knowing what you have is precious while it’s still in your hands. Over the years, gig has grown from being a leading personal and commercial insurer in Kuwait to a regional insurance solutions provider in Middle East and North Africa but still maintains its core ethos.

A competitive edge

By cultivating a team of over 2000 regional life and non-life insurance consultants trained to offer clients the most practical advice and dedicated attention and with a growing network of more than 80 branches across MENA region, the group has always been recognised for its professional excellence.

gig has consistently stayed one step in its markets, thanks to a comprehensive approach that involves implementing cutting-edge IT services, product innovation, customer relations management, enterprise risk management, corporate governance, prudent underwriting practices and digitalisation.

Before receiving International Investor’s award for Best Private Insurers, gig has quite a history of winning prizes. It was the first insurance company in Kuwait and the region awarded the ISO 27001 Certification in Information Security Management Systems by the British Standards Institution (BSI). It has also won both the “Insurance Company for the year 2008 - Middle East” by World Finance, London and the “International Quality Crown” award from Business Initiative Directions, Spain.

Bringing state-of-the-art technology to the region

gig’s capitalisation and usage of the latest technologies has immensely contributed to the company’s operational efficiency, customer service satisfaction, and company profitability. gig’s state-of-the-art web-based information technology applications link of all its operations and that of subsidiaries in one unified universe.

A comprehensive database of clients has been built over the years allowing improved customer relationship management, customer service and support, and cross-selling, all of which are crucial steps in customer retention.

A sign of their continued efforts to promote customer convenience, gig was the first insurance company in Kuwait to launch online sales of insurance products over the internet.

Applying the latest technologies with better, safer and easier access to various customer insurance product round the clock, this service was deployed in 2008, allowing customers to issue and renew Motor and Boat TPL insurance, renew Motor comprehensive insurance, and issue Travel Assist insurance as well as access many other services on the go.

gig launched its latest online services portal exclusively for individual life customers to pay premiums online, review and update personal details, view policy information, generate premium/loan statements, and to register their queries and complaints. The application is also integrated with bank payment gateways to accept K-NET and credit card payments.

Introducing innovative technology solutions to improve customer service is one of gig's longstanding priorities. That's why it was also the first insurance company in not just Kuwait but the whole region to introduce the sale and renewal of insurance products using smartphones. The gig iPhone application was launched in 2012 and the Android application followed shortly after in 2014, offering online sale of Motor, Marine, Travel and Domestic Helper policies.

gig also introduced Kuwait's first online medical adjudication application in 2010. Serving more than 58,000 customers over 200 medical providers with over 1000 users connected online, the state-of-the-art application has revolutionised the medical process shifting from the traditional paper-based claims to electronic claims. The application allows medical providers to inquire about customer medical policy details, create new medical claims, obtain necessary approval, and process treatments electronically with any use of paper. The application is connected online with a 24/7 call centre to provide any assistance to customers and medical providers.

Innovating behind the scenes

A document archival solution was implemented and seamlessly integrated with core insurance systems. In addition to eliminating a huge volume of physical documents, the solution has transformed various back-office functions, including claim auditing and approval, to make the entire process more efficient and productive.

To keep pace with the technology changes and to scale up with the growing business demands, gig successfully relocated its entire data centre to the highly reliable and secure data centre co-location facility of GulfNet. This data centre co-location facility provides a cost-effective, scalable, flexible and optimised environment to support gig's infrastructure requirements and business needs.

The Information Technology Department of Gulf Insurance, Kuwait is certified for BS 7799 / ISO 27001 for information security, since 2005. This has streamlined the internal IT operations and reassured the customers of the security of their information. Gulf Insurance is also the first insurance company in Kuwait to be awarded BS7788/ISO27001:2005 and subsequently upgraded for ISO 27001:2013 from ISO 27001:2005.

The journey ahead

gig intends to implement many ambitious and futuristic projects to not only meet the ever-changing needs of their customers but to exceed their expectations. Its dynamic leadership continuously strives to train and support human resources to develop both the technical and administrative capabilities of its group of companies. Apart from being committed to the advancement of the insurance industry both within Kuwait, gig plans to continue the regional expansion strategy towards establishing itself as a major player in the regional insurance markets of the Middle East and increase its business portfolio. In this concern, gig intends to strengthen its presence in the regional markets, emerge as a consolidator of businesses and develop a unified branding strategy.