Things to watch out for on car insurance

Roadworthiness

Your car must be registered in South Africa and must be roadworthy at all times. Otherwise an insurer may repudiate your claim.

Where do you park during the day and at night?

This is information that you must disclose to your insurer as it may impact the premium you will have to pay.

Is your car financed?

If your car is financed, it is compulsory to have fully comprehensive vehicle insurance.

Have you correctly declared your cars use?

Private Use is when you use your vehicle for social or private purposes, including driving between your home and regular place of work.

Business use is where the vehicle is used as a part of the performance of any work, including private use

Understanding your excess – do you know what it is?

An excess is the amount that you need to pay whenever a claim is submitted. It is payable irrespective of whether you are at fault or not.

Regular and Additional drivers

Be sure to let your insurer know who the regular driver of your car is including any additional drivers that you allow to drive your car on a regular basis.

Why do I have to pay more for insurance because I’m young?

It is a reality that young drivers will pay more for car insurance than more experienced, older drivers?

Two simple facts:

• Older drivers have fewer accidents than less experienced younger drivers.
• Older drivers have developed a record of insurance over time.

Things to watch out for on home insurance

Do you know if you are insured properly to the correct value?

To ensure that your insurance company is able to put you back in the same position you were prior to a loss/damage, you must insure your assets for their current replacement value.

Do you understand average?

If you have insured your building or contents for e.g. R100 000 but the current total actual replacement value is R200 000, then you've under-insured by 50%. The insurance company will therefore reduce your claim by 50%

Replacement cost value

The term replacement cost or replacement value refers to the amount that your insurer would have to pay to replace your asset at the present time, according to its current worth. It is vital that when you insure your assets at the current replacement cost, and not the purchase price is used to calculate the sum insured. This will ensure, that average will not be applied provided that the sum insured is reviewed regularly.

Are your contents insured?

Building and content insurance are two different things. Contents insurance covers all the items in your house that you would normally take with you when you move homes including outbuildings, swimming pool, walls that surrounds your property etc. Building insurance covers the physical structure of the building.

Things you should know about insurance

What does it mean to repudiate a claim?

When you have not complied with the terms and conditions stated in the policy wording or there has been non-disclosure of a material fact(s) by yourself or the event is not covered by your policy then your claim will not be paid.

Should I package my home and car insurance with the same insurance carrier?

Absolutely YES! If you can package your home and car insurance together, you often attract a lower premium than you would should these assets be insured separately.

How does my credit score affect my insurance premium?

There is a direct relationship between credit score and an individual’s propensity to get into severe car accidents as well as the likelihood of a policy being canceled due to non-payment. For you the insurance consumer, this means that it is important to maintain a high credit score because a low score could mean paying a higher insurance premium. Every insurance carrier uses a credit scoring system to different degrees to determine their premiums, so talk to us about the best carrier for you.