# Union Commerciale d'Assurances et de Réassurance

The Commercial Insurance and Reinsurance Union of Burundi (French: Union Commerciale d'Assurances et de Réassurance), or UCAR, is an insurance company based in Bujumbura, Burundi. Two separate subsidiaries provide life insurance and other insurance.

## History

UCAR was created by Burundian partners, including the State of Burundi, on 19 June 1986. The Union des Assurances De Paris (UAP) provided technical assistance. It was approved by ministerial order No. 540/326 on 12 September 1986. Share capital was 60,000,000 BIF, of which the state of Burundi held 30%, UAP held 10% and Burundian private shareholders held 60%. Capital was increased to 150,000,000 BIF in 1990. UAP sold their shares in 1995.
Under the transitional government's 2002–05 privatization program, the state's 12% stake of the Commercial Insurance and Reinsurance Union of Burundi was to be done through the issue of an invitation to tender in July 2004, followed by share transfer in October 2004. Under the terms of the World Bank's Economic Reform Support Grant, UCAR was one of 14 enterprises targeted in the 2006–2008 privatization program. The others were OPHAVET, BRB, Abattoir Public de Bujumbura (APB), REGIDESO, ONATEL, SOSUMO, COTEBU, OCIBU, OTB, SOCABU and SIP. The state of Burundi sold their shares in 2007.
In July 2008 there was one woman among the four senior managers, and one out of the nine on the management board.
The Insurance Code requires separation of Life insurance activities and Non-Life insurance activities. In 2017 the company was split into two companies, UCAR Vie et Capitalisation for life insurance, and UCAR Assurances Générales for general insurance.

## UCAR Vie

UCAR Vie et Capitalisation was created on 30 May 2017 to comply with law number 07/01/2014 Article 279, which states that companies that carry out both life insurance and non-life insurance must separate their life insurance from property and casualty insurance. It is a public limited company with share capital of 2,000,000,000 BIF. UCAR Vie et Capitalisation was provisionally approved on 4 August 2017 and definitely approved on 24 August 2018. Products include education, evacuation, and travel insurance, project savings, funeral expenses, credit protection and social protection.
| Education insurance | A monthly or quarterly annuity paid for a defined period to a designated child, with guaranteed payment if the insured dies. |
| Evacuation insurance | Covers air flights to Nairobi, Kenya, for medical treatment, and optionally covers the treatment costs. |
| Travel insurance | Covers hospitalization expenses when travelling outside Burundi. |
| Project savings | A savings plan with payout to the insured, or to a beneficiary in the event of death. |
| Funeral expenses | Covers the insured's funeral costs. |
| Credit protection | Guarantees repayment of a loan in the event of death. |
| Social protection | A one-year term life insurance product. |

## UCAR AG

On 1 June 2017 UCAR Assurances Générales was approved to practice non-life insurance operations. UCAR Non Vie was definitively approved on 27 June 2017. Approved products included:
    accidentsland vehicle bodysea, lake and river vehicle bodytransported goodsfire and natural elementsother damage to propertyair vehicle bodylegal protectionvarious pecuniary lossesland motor vehicle liabilitysea, lake and river vehicle liabilitygeneral liabilitysuretyair vehicle liabilitysicknesscreditrailway vehicle body
Between 2022 and 2024 UCAR AG was sanctioned repeatedly by the Insurance Regulatory and Supervisory Agency (ARCA) for concealment of information, violation of claims payment deadlines, failure to produce documents and obstructing the exercise of ARCA's missions. In April 2022 the company was placed under recapitalization with restriction of movements on its bank accounts. In September 2022 the free disposal of the assets was restricted. In September 2023 it was prohibited from subscribing to and renewing insurance contracts. This ban was lifted in April 2024.