Insurance companies and clients don’t always see eye to eye. Here is some advice from the gurus at independent insurance comparison website CompareGuru on the most common causes of disputes and how to avoid them. Misrepresentation One of the leading causes for rejected vehicle claims is misrepresentation. This alludes to who the regular driver of the car will be. If you’re putting yourself down as the regular driver of the vehicle when somebody else will be using it instead, such as your teenage son, this will become a problem later on. Your claim will also be rejected if: • You have lied about your claims history; • You have lied about your credit history; • You have lied about your security system/devices and; • You have misrepresented whether the insured vehicle will be used for personal or business use. Possessing proof of your most valuable items When it comes to household content, most of the complaints center around how much the insurer is willing to pay out. In many instances last year, the insured was unable to provide proof of ownership or proof of value for the lost goods. These are reasonable requests from any insurance company. When validating a claim, especially when it comes to high-value items, the insured must be able to provide ownership evidence. It’s not a bad idea to keep an inventory of your valuable home contents and retain all proof of purchase where possible. It’s also smart to keep copies of these outside of your home, just in case they are damaged in a fire or taken during a burglary. Theft and burglary were the reasons behind 73% of household content claims. Maintaining Your Property On that note, you may remember that 2017 saw a large amount of storm and fire damage across the country . We had tornadoes tornadoes in the Vaal area, the devastating fires in Knysna, extreme drought in the Western Cape and flash flooding in KZN and Gauteng. Thirteen percent of all claims were due to natural events, and many disputes were about storm damage. The biggest problem came in when insurers refused to pay out claims due to the properties already being affected by gradual deterioration. Negligent property owners did not maintain the property properly and ignored a large amount of wear and tear. Those who did might not have kept adequate records of any maintenance performed. Driving under the influence Without question, the area where insurance companies and clients butt heads the most is when it comes to drunk driving.Most of the claims considered by the Ombud were rejected due to the driver being intoxicated at the time of the incident. In order to manage the risks involved with drunk driving, some insurance companies have even implemented ‘take me home’ type services. If one were to look at the DUI statistics of car accidents in South Africa, though, it becomes clear that we have a serious problem. For help with all of your insurance needs, log onto Compareguru.co.za and compare quotes from South Africa’s leading insurers. Contact the gurus for independent advice and assistance on the best option for you. For assistance with any of your claims please contact Rethabile or Edmond email: shortterm@daberistic.com tel:(011)658-1333 Source: Personal Finance
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Don’t walk away from your vehicle before checking it is locked in order to mitigate the chances of falling prey to car-jamming, warns Marius Steyn, Santam underwriting manager. Steyn says, according to the State of Urban Safety in South Africa Report, there has been a 58 percent increase in car-jacking since 2011. He says that remote jamming, or car-jamming, is a practice where criminals use a signal-jamming device to prevent a car’s central locking and alarm systems from being activated, leaving a vehicle vulnerable to theft and vandalism. “Car-jamming continues to be an escalating safety concern for many South Africans. Motorist often walk away from their cars while pressing their remote without ensuring that their vehicles are physically locked. Because of this behaviour, criminals are provided the opportunity to commit a crime like car-jamming,” says Steyn. Asked whether insurers quoted clients higher premiums if, when taking out cover, they indicated that they regularly parked in public parking spaces, he responded: “Currently, at Santam it does not influence the premium.” Steyn says that if motorists do fall victim to car-jamming, they should not get in a “jam” with their insurance. The following conditions usually apply to most policyholders: “In most cases, personal insurance policies covers the theft of insured property from a locked vehicle subject to the limitations and conditions of the policy. To strengthen the success of the claims process, video footage from surrounding CCTV, would support (it). If, however, it is later proved that the vehicle was, in fact, not locked, the insurer has the right to reject the claim.” He says some policies require that theft from an unattended vehicle be accompanied by forcible and violent entry or exit. “The best practice is to understand the conditions of your insurance policy. It also cannot be stressed enough that it is important to always check and double check that your car is secure and that you’ve stored your belongings away in a safe place.” According to Aon insurance, remote jamming involves the blocking of car remotes using a household remote, as both car remotes and household remotes operate on a 400-megahertz frequency and criminals effectively prevent the locking action of the car from being activated and can then have easy access to the vehicle and its contents without any forced entry. “Parking areas outside schools are being targeted, as these are particularly easy pickings for criminals, as many parents leave valuables such as handbags, wallets, iPads and laptops in their cars while they walk their children into school. Quieter shopping centres with less security are also a favourite hunting ground,” says Aon. Steyn says you should check immobiliser devices and security systems regularly. If there are faults, get the devices repaired or replaced. Store items such as sunglasses and cellphones in a glove compartment or locked boot. This reduces the temptation to steal. For any Short-Term queries, please contact Edmond and Po-lin in our Short Term department shortterm@daberistic.com tel no: (011) 658 – 1333 Written by: Jospeh Booysen Source: Personal Finance Author: Edmond Lee So you recently bought short-term insurance, thinking that you are covered fully regardless of the circumstances? Think again. Many insurance buyers forget that insurance is based on certain fundamentals which must be adhered to in order to have continuous cover. The rationale is that although insurance is a risk transfer mechanism, there is still a responsibility for client to manage risk effectively. Below are some key ones which may be useful to you. Did you know?
Below are some key points that relate specifically to motor insurance:
We at Daberistic believe that by providing the right advice and solution to clients, we can create win-win relationships which will ultimately benefit everyone. If you are looking for advice on your short-term insurance needs, you can contact us on the following channels:
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January 2025
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