GENAC to enter new Caribbean markets, rebalance property and motor portfolios

General Accident Insurance Company Jamaica Limited, GENAC, is in the process of expanding further into the Caribbean, and is also looking to grow its share of the motor insurance market while maintaining its position in the property segment.

The company is awaiting approvals in different markets in order to launch into business.

Chairman Paul Scott said GENAC has moved from motor insurance making up about 30 per cent of its business nine years ago, to a more balanced portfolio between motor and property insurance. He said motor insurance could comprise 60 per cent of revenue in the next few years, without compromising its share of the property insurance market.

“Our motor business is a core component of our business and our strategy. And we’re very focused on continuing to grow that business in Jamaica,” Scott told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting on Friday.

The general insurance company operates in Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, and Barbados.

At present, inside Jamaica, GENAC has about 23 per cent of the property insurance market in Jamaica and 14 per cent share in the motor insurance market.

Scott said GENAC would not compete on price, but emphasised its goal of being a best-in-class service organisation.

“It’s not so much about price; we also want to deliver value,” he said. “But at the same time, for us to go from 23 per cent to 30 per cent of market share in one market is a lot harder than to go from 14 per cent to maybe 20 per cent in the motor business. So, it’s more likely that the motor business will continue to grow, and I’m pretty confident it will,” Scott added.

General Accident delivered after-tax profit of $174.3 million for the first six months of 2025, compared to $159.1 million for the half-year period in 2024.

Insurance revenue was $6.28 billion for the first half of 2025, compared with $5.37 billion for the 2024 period.

Meanwhile, Scott indicated the company’s ambition to extend its business throughout the English-speaking Caribbean. Spanish-speaking countries, such as Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, are not on the radar for the foreseeable future, he said.

“Anything that we’re in has to be regional. It has to have scale,” Scott told shareholders. “Our ambition and aspiration is for General Accident to be the premier insurance platform in the Caribbean. You can’t be that by just servicing three markets. We will be in other markets across the Caribbean. The timing of when that happens, et cetera, is not something that we can pin down,” he said.

GENAC derives most of its business from Jamaica, which in 2024 delivered revenue of $8.69 billion. Trinidad contributed $1.98 billion to group revenue, and Barbados $755 million.

Scott said the company has made applications to operate in Guyana, the Cayman Islands, and elsewhere.

He is bullish on business for the group, notwithstanding hiccups with approvals.

“I think General Accident is going to have a very good year this year. We have made some significant expansion plans that were to be implemented in the first quarter of this year that had to be delayed, for regulatory reasons, in various different jurisdictions,” the chairman reported.

“I am hoping that those plans will be approved, certainly by the end of the year. That would dramatically change the trajectory of what we can do,” he said.

luke.douglas@gleanerjm.com