Amaco fights auctioneers over Sh380,000 debt

African Merchant Assurance Company (Amaco) is fighting off the auction of its assets after defaulting on a payment of Sh388,127 to an accident victim.

Keysian Auctioneers were yesterday at the offices of the embattled insurer to seize and sell movable assets including water dispensers, chairs and filing cabinets for failing to honour claims payments.

The auctioneers, however, said they were denied entry to the property.

“We have been denied access to the valuable property in the office despite having a warrant to proclaim the goods,” said Alvin Otieno, a partner at Keysian auctioneers.

“Unfortunately, we cannot access the goods that were proclaimed because the offices are locked.”

The money was awarded to Annah Mueni Charles as special and general damages after she was injured by a motor vehicle insured by Amaco.

The insurer has been struggling to honour claims payments, according to data from the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA).

IRA data shows that 604 customer complaints had been lodged against Amaco between 2017 and September last year, making it the general insurer with the most complaints.

On February 25, 2021, the court ordered Amaco to pay Sh359,488 to Ms Charles. The amount has now accrued to Sh388,127.

Keysian officials said Amaco had promised to pay the money by end of Monday but this was not honoured, with the insurer claiming its accounts had been blocked.

Amaco told The Standard yesterday that the matter was being handled. “This is not a one-minute thing. The claim has to go through the claims officer and our finance officer before approval, after which payment will be made,” said the firm in response to queries.