Nimbus Direct Insurance — Product Strategy

The phased product architecture across personal lines, commercial lines and UBI, life, funeral and microinsurance, the product-mix evolution, the Nimbus Reserve customer-reward mechanism and the reinsurance programme.

Nimbus Direct Insurance Business PlanSection 5 › Product Strategy

Section 5 · Business Plan

Product Strategy

The phased product architecture across personal lines, commercial lines and UBI, life, funeral and microinsurance, the product-mix evolution, the Nimbus Reserve customer-reward mechanism and the reinsurance programme.

5.1 Product Architecture & Phasing

Nimbus will sequence its product portfolio in three phases over the
five-year plan period, balancing speed-to-market with regulatory
complexity, capital intensity, and claim-handling capability.

Phase 1 — South Africa Personal Lines (Year 1–2)

  • Comprehensive Motor Insurance — the flagship
    Year 1 product. Covers private passenger vehicles for own damage,
    third-party liability, theft and hijack, with optional add-ons
    (windscreen, scratch & dent, tyre & rim, car hire). Pricing
    engine incorporates 40+ rating factors at launch, scaling to 80+ within
    12 months via telematics enrichment.
  • Third-Party Only Motor — entry-level cover for
    price-sensitive segments; required to comply with bond and lease
    provisions in some cases.
  • Buildings & Contents (Homeowners) Insurance
    — sum-insured-based cover for primary residences, with optional cover
    for outbuildings, swimming pools, walls and fences, and contents under
    specified-items and unspecified-items schedules. All-risks cover for
    portable items available as add-on.
  • Personal Liability Cover — bundled with home and
    motor policies; provides cover for third-party legal liability up to
    elected limit.

Phase 2 — Commercial Lines & UBI (Year 2–3)

  • SME Combined Cover — packaged commercial product
    for small businesses (revenue up to ZAR 50 million). Covers business
    assets, business interruption, public liability, employer’s liability,
    and money-in-transit, sold through a fully self-service quote-and-bind
    flow with broker option for larger schedules.
  • Telematics & Usage-Based Insurance (UBI)
    Year 2 introduction of a black-box and smartphone-based UBI variant of
    comprehensive motor cover. Provides ongoing premium adjustment based on
    actual driving exposure and behaviour.
  • Specialty Lines — limited rollout of all-risks
    fine art, specialised personal accident, and travel insurance.

Phase 3 — Life, Funeral & Microinsurance (Year 3–5)

  • Funeral Cover (Individual & Family) — Year 3
    launch under the Nimbus Life licence; covers immediate, extended and
    societal family structures recognised under South African
    custom.
  • Life Risk Cover (Term Life) — Year 4
    launch.
  • Credit Life Cover — Year 4 launch; offered
    through banking partner channels.
  • Microinsurance Products — Year 5 launch in
    Botswana; designed for mass-market accessibility with low-premium,
    simplified-claims products and USSD distribution.

5.2 Product Mix Evolution

Figure 5.1
Figure 5.1 — Revenue mix evolution from Year 1 to Year 5 by product line.

5.3 The Nimbus Reserve — Customer Reward Mechanism

The Nimbus Reserve is the Company’s flagship retention and
customer-alignment mechanism. It improves upon the established OUTbonus
and Discovery Vitality models in three specific ways:

Mechanics

  1. Each policyholder accrues a percentage of their monthly premium
    into an individual Reserve, with the accrual rate stepping up over time:
    4% in Year 1, 6% in Year 2, 8% in Year 3, 10% from Year 4
    onwards.
  2. Claim-free maturity unlocks the Reserve every three years;
    partial maturity is available after 24 months at a reduced
    rate.
  3. At maturity, the customer elects to (a) receive cash deposit, (b)
    apply the balance as premium credit, or (c) redeem at premium partners
    across the Reserve Ecosystem (fuel, retail, healthcare).
  4. A claim within the maturity period resets only the active cycle;
    previously-matured reserves are preserved.

Why It Wins

  • Earned reward begins immediately (OUTbonus
    requires a 3-year wait with no partial unlock; Nimbus offers 24-month
    partial maturity).
  • Ecosystem redemption — partner network of fuel
    retailers, supermarkets and pharmacy chains makes the Reserve
    immediately usable in daily life.
  • Behavioural alignment — accrual escalator
    (4%→10%) rewards long tenure, lifting expected customer
    lifetime.
  • Capital efficient — the Reserve is accounted for
    as a contingent policyholder liability with discount factors applied for
    forfeiture experience; net economic cost to Nimbus expected at 3.5–4.5%
    of GWP after experience adjustments.

5.4 Reinsurance Programme

Nimbus will operate a robust reinsurance programme combining
proportional and non-proportional structures, designed to (a) protect
against frequency and severity volatility, (b) reduce regulatory capital
requirements, and (c) provide access to reinsurer technical expertise.
The Year 1 programme has been provisionally structured as follows:

Treaty Layer Retention Cover Lead Reinsurer (Preferred)
Quota Share (motor) 60% net 40% ceded Munich Re
Quota Share (property) 55% net 45% ceded Swiss Re
Surplus (property) Per-risk ZAR 5M Up to ZAR 50M Swiss Re / Hannover Re
Catastrophe XoL ZAR 30M event Up to ZAR 800M Africa Re / Munich Re panel
Stop-loss (aggregate) 108% loss ratio Up to 130% Hannover Re
Estimated reinsurance cost ~22% of GWP (Year 1), declining to ~17% by Year 5

Confidential — this business plan is provided to prospective investors and lenders for evaluation purposes only and may not be reproduced or distributed without the written consent of Nimbus Direct Insurance Group (Pty) Ltd.