- BRYTE ASSIST 0860 001 121
- TRAVEL CUSTOMER CARE CENTRE 0860 737 775
Bryte’s Media Pages provide you with the latest news and information that’s relevant to you or your business. Please open the sections below.
The annual Bryte Edition covers news and events both at Bryte and the world around us that impact our future, as our expert team shares their knowledge and insights into short-term insurance and risk mitigation trends.
Along with a foreword from our new Group CEO, the 2023 Bryte Edition looks at the impacts global conflict and climate change are having on risk assessment, and how technology is shaping the brokers of the future.
Insightful information for both travel agents and travellers, the Bryte Travel Index unpacks the most recent – and important – information, trends and challenges around local and global travel.
The 2024 Bryte Travel Index explores the costliest destinations for emergency medical care, how holiday seasons are heating up, and critical holiday checklists.
The Bryte Crime Tracker is an indicator of long-term crime trends in South Africa as captured by Bryte’s insurance claims records.
The Bryte Crime Tracker measures the annual change, on a quarterly basis, in crime-related claims (hijacking, robbery, theft and malicious damage) committed against South African businesses. Although the claims data for the period cannot be compared to official crime statistics which are not available, the data can be considered as indicative of crime trends being recorded and reported.
Bryte Insurance Company Limited, the proactive business risk insurance specialist, is pleased to announce the acquisition of a controlling stake in the South African operation of Sapphire Risk Transfer. In addition to the shareholding, Bryte will grant Sapphire an Underwriting Management binder for its entire corporate property book, subject to the customary regulatory approvals. The acquisition further enables Bryte to address evolving corporate client needs and enhance its customer value proposition.
The collaboration with Sapphire will significantly increase Bryte’s corporate property service offering. Sapphire will assume responsibility for the underwriting and reinsurance of all of Bryte’s corporate property portfolio from 1 January 2021.
Speaking on the partnership and its meaning for the business, Bryte CEO, Edwyn O’Neill, commented, ‘’Our collaboration with Sapphire Risk Transfer is one that is aimed at accelerating Bryte’s corporate property portfolio and is part of our ongoing commitment to our corporate value proposition. As a future-focused business, we constantly evolve and adapt to meet the demands of our dynamic operating environment and ensure sustainability for the long term. With the world now focusing on 2021, we believe this is exactly the right time to ignite new growth initiatives and we are excited to have the Sapphire team join our portfolio.’’
Sapphire Group CEO, Gary Corke will lead Bryte’s corporate property portfolio. Gary has a significant track record, with strong experience in leading teams to drive new underwriting capabilities and in building leading businesses in the corporate property space.
‘’Sapphire is thrilled to be collaborating with Bryte. We believe that this partnership will offer our people, and our clients, greater choice and flexibility, whilst also ensuring a sustainable result for all our shared stakeholders. Together, we represent a strong business offering and enhanced expertise to grow the corporate property book’’ says Gary Corke, CEO of Sapphire Risk Transfer.
Gary’s past successes include co-founding Emerald Underwriting Managers, where he served as CEO. In addition, Gary led SHA Specialist Underwriters where he served as CEO for four years.
“At a time when our industry, and our world, faces new demands and evolving client needs, we believe that this partnership ensures we are optimised to meet future challenges and opportunities with confidence,’’ O’Neill concluded.
Bryte Insurance Company Limited is pleased to announce the appointment of two new Executive Committee (exco) members in Ncumisa Mtshali, who is the company’s Executive Head: Human Resources, and Waseem Vally, Bryte’s Executive Head: Technology.
The two new additions to the executive committee represent Bryte’s strategic focus on improving employee engagement, creating a conducive environment to empower employees to further advance in the business, and also to leverage technological capabilities to enhance data gathering, which can enable the company to adopt a more tailored approach in supporting customers through their risk journey.
Ncumisa is a key driver of Bryte’s internal culture and employee engagement. She is passionate about talent development and employee wellness. She is highly qualified and has a wealth of experience, having been in human resources for more than 14 years. Ncumisa holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Rhodes University, a BCom Honours in Human Resource Management from MANCOSA and an MBA from MANCOSA.
Waseem has played a key role in Bryte’s adaptation to a hybrid model of working and has helped keep staff connected and productive at the office or when working remotely. His vast knowledge and expertise in technological solutions around security and networking have made him a significant member of the business and a chief implementor of Bryte’s strategy around digital. He is an expert in his field, with over 20 years of experience covering all aspects of technology. He holds a BSc in Computer Science and Applied Math from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a BSc Hons in Information Security from the University of Johannesburg.
“This is an important step forward for our business as we implement our new strategy that is focused on providing innovative, responsive insurance risk management solutions to consistently enhance the resilience of our customers and help build competitive enduring businesses. Ncumisa and Waseem have been instrumental in the success and growth of the business in driving employee engagement and creating flexible, accessible and innovative solutions to ensure optimal value for every stakeholder,” said Edwyn O’Neill, CEO at Bryte.
Bryte Insurance Company Limited, a proactive business risk specialist announces its acquisition of Holmes Underwriting Agency (HUA), a specie insurance expert and independent coverholder at Lloyd’s of London.
“HUA’s deep specialist knowledge and expertise will certainly enhance Bryte’s current value proposition, specifically within our Jewellery, Fine Art & Specie Division,” said Edwyn O’Neill, CEO at Bryte. “HUA’s experience across a diverse portfolio of commercial customers, and its proven ability to effectively manage customer exposure in a shifting risk environment, also aligns perfectly to our business philosophy.”
A focus on establishing partnerships that deliver mutual value and customer excellence at every touchpoint, is an important aspect of Bryte’s business strategy. Accordingly, this acquisition is aimed at further accelerating Bryte’s growth ambitions; expanding access to wider markets, capabilities and networks that enable more inclusive risk management solutions for businesses.
“It is a great privilege for HUA to be joining the Bryte family. Bryte comprehensively understands the evolving risk landscape, has made immense strides in proactively managing customer risk, and is respected in the industry for its emphasis on unparalleled customer service and niche, tailormade insurance solutions,” said Alistair Holmes, Director at HUA.
HUA will be integrated into Bryte’s Jewellery, Fine Art & Specie Division with effect from 1 December 2017. The policies of existing HUA customers will not be impacted by the acquisition.
Zurich South Africa and its Botswana counterpart today rebranded to Bryte Insurance, following an acquisition by Canadian-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Fairfax) in 2016. Bryte has identified business risk management as a key growth opportunity and through its proactive approach to risk management, will focus on driving and diversifying its commercial client and specialist lines portfolio.
“We are delighted to introduce our new brand to the Southern Africa market. Taking the best of our legacy forward, our new African brand sets the tone for what we aim to achieve within the industry, with the backing of our global parent company, Fairfax,” says Edwyn O’Neill, CEO at Bryte Insurance.
O’Neill continues, “Our ambition is to be the premier, proactive business risk specialist in Southern Africa, while also investing significantly in the development of a transformed generation of new insurance practitioners. Applying our unparalleled sector insights, proven expertise and foresight, we partner with customers and brokers to protect their businesses and improve their risk profiles across the continent.”
While the company has rebranded and the strategy has evolved, O’Neill says that it is business as usual at Bryte Insurance. This means that all policies and agreements under Zurich remain in place and will be duly honoured. Furthermore, the senior leadership team responsible for achieving the well-acknowledged business turnaround, will continue to be instrumental in driving the growth and sustainability of the business under its new identity.
“As before, we are committed to, and deeply invested in, our intermediated broker partnership model. A fundamental element of our strategy going forward will be creating a business that endures; one that is deeply focused on customer and partner value-add – that means creating opportunities for mutual success for all brokers within our network.
We will continue to prioritise profitability and strive to be the benchmark for service excellence and the go to service provider for forward-looking, informed and proactive risk management in South Africa’s insurance sector,” concludes O’Neill.
About Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Fairfax)
Fairfax is a holding company which, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and investment management.
Bryte Insurance Company Limited, the proactive insurance risk specialist, has launched a new transactional website focused on its travel business.
South Africa continues to see a significant increase in international travel, with international departures increasing by 147.3% between April 2021 and April 2022. With the consequent increase in the demand for travel insurance, Bryte’s new website aims to address its clients' evolving needs and enhance its customer value proposition as the service provider at the forefront of delivering pioneering risk management solutions.
The new site offers end-to-end support services from the point of sale through to the claims stage. Customers will be able to:
“Our new Bryte Travel website is informed by our goal to use a range of innovative platforms that connect customers more effectively and ensure optimal value for the product that they are looking for. We are continuously focused on creating effective solutions that can withstand the test of time by remaining relevant and responsive to the needs of the market,” said Bryte Head of Travel, Anriëth Symon.
This development is in line with Bryte’s efforts to identify intelligent methods that enhance data gathering and analytics capabilities, enabling it to adopt a more tailored approach to supporting each customer.
Commenting on Bryte Travel’s new website launch, JP Blignaut, CEO of Bryte Insurance, states: “At Bryte Insurance, we place significant emphasis on developing long-term partnerships and are committed to building a business that intrinsically guides the customer throughout their risk journey. We are fully dedicated to maintaining the highest levels of relevance and consistently investing in value-adding enhancements.”
Bryte Travel offers comprehensive insurance for unforeseeable and unexpected incidents that may affect a client’s trip. Clients can access the website at https://travelinsurance.brytesa.com
Bryte Insurance, the proactive business risk specialist, has once again put in a stellar performance, according to the findings in the recently released Annual Report by the Ombudsman for Short-Term Insurance (OSTI). The OSTI is tasked with providing a “fair and transparent dispute resolution mechanism” between consumers and short-term insurance providers.
According to the report, the OSTI received 1.06 complaints per 1,000 claims filed with Bryte, one of the lowest numbers recorded over 2018. Bryte was responsible for only 1.58% of the total complaints received by the OSTI, indicating sector leading levels of customer satisfaction. With these numbers, Bryte is in the lowest 15% of the entire insurance market of complaints received by the OSTI.
“Bryte is incredibly proud of the levels of customer satisfaction experienced by our customers as exemplified in the Ombudsman’s report. Our focus remains on proactively managing business risk for the benefit of our customers and resolving claims with the highest level of integrity”, said Bryte CEO Edwyn O’Neill. “It’s great to see that our process and practices, especially our core commitment to treating customers fairly, have resulted in our customers feeling so satisfied that the Ombudsman received a very low number of complaints”, O’Neill continued.
A central strategic objective for Bryte has been a sustained focus on customers. The company has prioritised making significant investments to streamline business processes, so as to ensure that customers are treated fairly. These investments have begun to pay dividends as per the figures outlined in the OSTI report.
The report itself further details that more than R87 million was paid out to South African insurance customers after complaints. About 9,500 complaints were finalised by the OSTI in the 2018 financial year. Motor vehicle insurance represented almost half of the total number of finalised complaints. The vast majority of finalised complaints related to consumers voicing dissatisfaction about the insurer’s decision on a claim, specifically rejection claims because of exclusions detailed in the policy’s terms and conditions.
