RESPONSIBLE | RELIABLE | RELEVANT

Elevating Underwriting Standards

Customised Insurance Solutions for Commercial Risks

Step into our world of specialised underwriting excellence, where we surpass your expectations. We’re your trusted partner, offering comprehensive insurance solutions that safeguard property from damage and loss, all enhanced by our unique PayBack Undertaking. We elevate standards to secure your assets and future, ensuring exceptional value and peace of mind.

The Responsible, Reliable & Relevant insurance underwriter

Welcome to PARTNER RISK, the specialist underwriting management agency that provides innovative insurance solutions to mitigate risk and ensure organisational resilience.

We offer a unique approach to risk management that rewards commercial clients with a low claims bonus (PayBack). We are the only insurance underwriter in South Africa with exclusive rights to offer the PayBack undertaking.

PayBack is a component of the underwriting profit made by PARTNER RISK. It is only applied to the lead-line policies underwritten by PARTNER RISK and is used to fund risk management expenditure as agreed between the Insured client and PARTNER RISK.

PARTNER RISK is a registered financial services provider, authorised by the Financial Services Conduct Authority in South Africa. We provide underwriting management services to our clients on behalf of our principal insurer – Guardrisk Insurance Company Ltd.

Property Insurance

Our Property Insurance solutions are exclusively available through intermediaries, and are designed to provide comprehensive protection to safeguard your clients’ property and profits. These policies are highly customisable to meet the unique needs of your commercial clients.

Property Insurance

Our Property Insurance solutions are exclusively available through intermediaries, and are designed to provide comprehensive protection to safeguard your clients’ property and profits. These policies are highly customisable to meet the unique needs of your commercial clients.

Multi-Peril Insurance

At PARTNER RISK, we understand that every client is unique, and their insurance needs can vary significantly. That's why we offer Multi-Peril Insurance policies for those clients who prefer this comprehensive approach to coverage, often recommended by their trusted brokers.

Multi-Peril Insurance

At PARTNER RISK, we understand that every client is unique, and their insurance needs can vary significantly. That's why we offer Multi-Peril Insurance policies for those clients who prefer this comprehensive approach to coverage, often recommended by their trusted brokers.

SASRIA Insurance

At PARTNER RISK, we take a proactive approach to safeguarding your clients' interests. That's why, when we serve as the lead or sole insurer on your clients’ assets and/or multi-peril insurance policies. We automatically extend our commitment to their protection by offering assistance with the purchase of SASRIA insurance policies.

SASRIA Insurance

At PARTNER RISK, we take a proactive approach to safeguarding your clients' interests. That's why, when we serve as the lead or sole insurer on your clients’ assets and/or multi-peril insurance policies. We automatically extend our commitment to their protection by offering assistance with the purchase of SASRIA insurance policies.

Our unique approach to mitigating risk

At PARTNER RISK, we pride ourselves on our distinctive approach to risk mitigation. Our strength lies in the solid and enduring relationships we’ve built with industry partners, ensuring that valid claims are promptly settled.

Our rapid service turnaround is the result of our tailor-made risk selection and claims settlement systems. We’ve developed an in-house Risk Appetite Indicator App, a cutting-edge tool designed to provide you with a quick answer to your risk acceptance enquiry (max 24-hour turnaround).

Central to our approach is the calculated Threshold Claims Ratio for each client, meticulously determined through actuarial analysis.

Why Us?

Our Underwriters

Specialist Underwriting | Partner Risk

Gareth Baines

Managing Director

Specialist Underwriting | Partner Risk

Lazaros Sibanda

Head: Technical Support

Specialist Underwriting | Partner Risk

Leslie Mitchell

HEAD: OPERATIONS

Specialist Underwriting | Partner Risk

Charlton Grootboom

Underwriting Assistant

Specialist Underwriting | Partner Risk

Sipumze Ngobo

Underwriting Assistant

Specialist Underwriting | Partner Risk

Gareth Baines

Managing Director

Specialist Underwriting | Partner Risk

Lazaros Sibanda

Head: Technical Support

Specialist Underwriting | Partner Risk

Leslie Mitchell

HEAD: OPERATIONS

Specialist Underwriting | Partner Risk

Charlton Grootboom

Underwriting Assistant

Frequently Asked Questions

At PARTNER RISK, we firmly believe in a three-way partnership: Client – Broker – Insurer, where shared success benefits everyone involved.

The “PayBack” undertaking is a low-claims-bonus carefully calculated by actuaries. It’s specifically designed to reward eligible clients by funding investments in risk management improvements.

Think of it as an “out” bonus, administered by PARTNER RISK, for the exclusive benefit of your clients.

The PARTNER RISK Risk Appetite Indicator App provides brokers with quick and easy access to our risk appetite, so you can quickly determine whether we are likely to accept a particular risk and how much capacity we have are able to deploy.

This information can help you to:

1. Pre-qualify risks:

Save time and effort by quickly identifying risks that are unlikely to be accepted by PARTNER RISK.

2. Provide accurate and timely feedback to your clients: 

Be confident in your ability to provide your clients with accurate and timely information about our risk appetite.

3. Build stronger relationships with your clients:

Demonstrate your expertise and commitment to your clients by providing them with the information they need to make informed insurance decisions.

How the app works:

To use the app, simply enter the details of your insured risk. The app will then return a response within 24-hours, indicating whether we are inclined to consider accepting the risk and how much capacity we are able to deploy.

Capacity:

The insurance capacity we have available for a particular risk refers to the maximum amount of indicative capacity we are able to deploy to your insured risk. This amount may be limited by a number of factors, such as the type of risk, the size of the risk, and our overall risk appetite.

A Threshold Claims Ratio (TCR) calculator is a crucial element in calculating the Payback. It involves actuarial calculations for each client, factoring in non-claim components of the written premium, which include the capital cost. The TCR calculator plays a central role in determining the Payback for qualifying insured clients.

We take pride in our Level 1 B-BBEE status under the revised Financial Sector Code (FSC), which we have achieved through MMI Holdings. This exceptional rating encompasses all companies within our group, including our principal insurer, Guardrisk Insurance Company Ltd.

Our principal insurer, Guardrisk, has received credit ratings from the renowned international ratings agency, Moody’s Investor Service, who has assessed three companies within the Guardrisk Group. Guardrisk Insurance and Guardrisk Life both hold a Baa3 rating on the global scale Insurance Financial Strength (IFS) and an Aaa.za rating on the national scale IFS. Additionally, Guardrisk International has been rated Baa3 on the global scale.

Recent Blog Entries

Specialist Underwriting | Partner Risk

Gareth Baines

Managing Director

Gareth founded PARTNER RISK in March 2017. With a strong background in general insurance and bancassurance in Africa, Gareth, also known as GB, brings extensive expertise. He has served on the boards of IRMSA and various non-Life and Life boards from 1992 to 2004. Gareth held executive positions at Guardrisk, AIG, Absa Bank, and Nedbank, honing skills in structured insurance, personal, commercial, and niche insurance products. He holds a B.Bus.Sc. (Finance Hons), an MBA, and RE1 and RE5 regulatory qualifications in South Africa

Specialist Underwriting | Partner Risk

Lazaros Sibanda

HEAD: TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Lazaros joined PARTNER RISK in March 2017. With many years of experience in the short-term insurance industry, Lazaros brings extensive technical expertise to the PARTNER RISK team. He has honed his property underwriting skills in both corporate and commercial property at renowned organisations like OMI, Aon and Hollard. Lazaros also holds an RE5 qualification.

Specialist Underwriting | Partner Risk

Leslie Mitchell

HEAD: OPERATIONS

Leslie joined PARTNER RISK in July 2022. With extensive experience in the commercial insurance industry, Leslie served as the Managing Director of the UMA, Garagesure for 12 years. He possesses a strong skill set in business development and a deep understanding of the operational requirements of an insurance practice. In addition to his RE1 and RE5 qualifications, Leslie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Stellenbosch.

Specialist Underwriting | Partner Risk

Charlton Grootboom

UNDERWRITING ASSISTANT

Charlton joined PARTNER RISK in December 2022 as an underwriting assistant under supervision. With many years of experience in the short-term insurance industry, Charlton brings youthful exuberance to the PARTNER RISK team. Charlton began his career with Factory & Industrial straight out of school, making PARTNER RISK his second employer.

Specialist Underwriting | Partner Risk

Sipumze Ngobo

UNDERWRITING ASSISTANT

Sipumze joined PARTNER RISK in November 2021. He brings fresh insights to our underwriting team, having completed his BCom degree in Finance at the University of Johannesburg in 2020. Sipumze also holds an RE5 qualification.