Great. You’ve got household goods insurance so now you can put your feet up, sit back and not worry about any of your possessions getting lost, damaged or stolen. And while this is true, this type of insurance only protects these items while they are IN YOUR HOME. So if you take that expensive camera away with you for the weekend and it gets stolen from your hotel room, unfortunately, your household goods insurance won’t cover you. Oh, dear.
This is where something called all risks insurance can be very handy. Think of all risks insurance as “portable possessions” insurance, protecting the value of anything that you remove from your home on a regular basis. The most common types of things that people insure under all risks are those that are more valuable than the specified limit such as designer sunglasses, cellphones, tablets, cameras, laptops and jewellery.
Why do I need to specify items?
With our all risks insurance at Hollard, you have a general insured property section for items worth less than R2000 and a specified section where you need to list valuable or high-risk items. These are not only items worth more than R2000; some are worth less than R2000 but are classified as high risk, such as your camera for example.
You must be very specific when you list items and include the model and make, as well as a cost to replace the item brand new.
Here are some examples:
- Apple iPhone 5s 16GB (silver)
- 18ct white gold single-stone diamond earrings
- MacBook Pro 13-inch dual-core i7
It’s worth bearing in mind that a separate premium is charged for each item you ensure under all risks. However, if you don’t specify an item you may not be covered when the time comes to claim, so it’s worth checking with your insurer if you’re uncertain.
What is underinsuring?
Underinsuring is often a problem when it comes to all risks insurance. For example, you may specify your fancy watch at the price you bought it for R3000. But then five years down the line, you’re out dancing the night away, the watch falls off your wrist and after making a claim you realise that replacing it will actually cost R8000. You then won’t be able to afford to replace it with something similar and will be in a much worse position than you were before (plus you’ll have no way of telling the time!).
How do I claim?
When you make a claim under your all risks insurance policy you need to notify us of the event. If there was theft involved, you also need to tell the police and get a case number. It’s very important to write down this case number or keep a record; otherwise, we may not pay out your claim.
You then need to send us the completed claim form, a copy of your South African ID, proof of purchase of the item and a valuation certificate stating how much the item will cost to replace. If you don’t have proof of purchase you can also supply us with the receipt or box you purchased it in, as long as it still contains the price. If the item was stolen you need to send us your police case number and a copy of the police report. We’ll then get back to you as soon as possible with the results of your claim.
Now that you know more about all risks insurance and how important it is for protecting your valuables − get a quote today.
