Road accident victims, policyholders and other creditors of United Insurance Company Limited are set to receive long awaited relief as the insurer’s liquidation moves to the distribution of cheques for approved claims. The exercise marks a major step in a process that began after the company ran into financial trouble in 2005, leaving thousands of claims unresolved.

Court appointed liquidator Kamal Anantroy Bhatt said in a notice to the media that cheques would be issued to claimants whose applications had been examined by the claims verification committee and approved by the liquidation committee. A High Court judge will supervise the exercise, providing oversight as the approved payments are prepared for distribution.

For the people owed money, this is the point at which years of court proceedings and paperwork can begin to translate into payment. The claims come from several groups, including policyholders, road accident victims, former employees, medical service providers and legal practitioners. They had different dealings with the insurer, but all faced a long period of uncertainty over whether and when their claims would be settled.

Court proceedings in July 2026 showed that claims worth approximately KSh 118 million had been cleared for payment out of an estimated KSh 300 million in verified creditor claims. The KSh 118 million figure reflects the value of claims cleared at that stage. The exact amount to be handed out in the announced distribution was not disclosed.

More than 4,000 claims had gone through verification. The exercise also showed why settling claims from a company that stopped operating years ago can take time. About 1,600 payment applications lacked claim numbers, making it harder to match the applications with the insurer’s records. Checking those records is part of establishing which claims can be approved and paid from the company’s estate.

United Insurance was placed under statutory management in July 2005 after financial difficulties left it unable to meet its obligations. A petition to wind up the company followed in 2006, setting off years of litigation involving the regulator, shareholders and policyholders.

Shareholders opposed liquidation and argued that the insurer could be revived by selling some properties and bringing in additional capital. The case remained in court until July 2024, when High Court Judge Alfred Mabeya ordered the company’s liquidation and appointed Bhatt as liquidator. The judge observed that some claims had remained unsettled for more than a decade.

The ruling allowed the liquidation to move forward. The focus then turned to checking applications, reconciling records and identifying the claims that could be cleared for payment. The planned distribution of cheques is the most tangible development yet for claimants whose applications have passed those checks.

For a road accident victim or a former employee who has waited years, the significance of this exercise is personal. The court dates and decisions have followed one another for nearly two decades. Now, for creditors whose claims have been approved, a cheque offers something they have waited for since the insurer collapsed: payment.