Insurance companies must be registered with and licensed by the Registrar of Insurance, make security deposits with the treasury, file annual financial reports, and observe other government regulations. Principal types of insurance written are life, fire, automobile, employers' liability, and accident. Automobile third-party liability is compulsory. There were some 50 insurance companies doing business in Zimbabwe in the mid-1980s.
In 1996, insurance companies continued to complain about the persistence of regulations that they considered to be inappropriate in the liberalized environment. Two foreign-owned insurance companies were reported to be holding out against government localization requirements against which a deadline of 1 August 1993, for 51% local shareholding had been set. The requirement on insurance companies and pension funds to invest 55% in government securities was also felt to be too high. In 2001, $153 million was written in life insurance premiums.