Are you adequately insured?
Are all your assets noted on your policy?
Do you know what the market standard and average costing is?
Short Term Insurance is not isolated to building insurance or motor vehicle insurance. In fact, it is a multifaceted cover which is critical to not only have in place but also ensure that it is accurate.
Short Term Insurance assists in covering: Motor Vehicle’s, Household content, Building, Portable possessions (cell phone, iPad, Jewellery, Sunglasses etc), Personal Liability, Mag and tyre cover, credit shortfall and so the list goes on.
We often find that clients make the following mistakes when insuring their assets and valuables:
- Building insurance, following the municipal valued amount is incorrect and will see you having a significant shortfall in cover. The correct was to insure a building is by insuring it for replacement value.
- Household content insurance, this cover not only includes cover for furniture but it includes all items in the house ie. Kitchenware, clothing, toys for your children, linen etc. It is also vital to insure for replacement value.
- Vehicle, extras are often not included and should be. Insuring your vehicle comprehensively and at Retail value is recommended.
All Risk otherwise known as portable possessions. This includes glasses, cell phones, jewellery and items you take in and out of your house with you. Clients need to keep the insured values up to date each year, often this is not done and when it comes to replacement the items are outdated and usually cover is not in line with what is being offered on the market.
When an insurer finds there has been under insurance, they may apply the law of average which essentially pays you out the portion you covered and paid for, which means they do not cover the full replacement amount as a result. This can so easily be avoided provided annual checks are done by the client. This can easily be done at the renewal stage of your policy which occurs annually.
You will also find a lot of insurers offer cheaper cover but often they do not explain how they did this. There are many ways to make cover cheaper and this is why you need to review your policy documents carefully. One of the ways is by increasing the excess of a policy, it is a simple way to reduce cost but come claim stage, you may be left with a nasty surprise.
Insurance does not need to be complicated, but it does need to be accurate and up to date.
To prevent frustrations later down the line, ensure your cover is adequate and correct. Make sure the necessary maintenance is done on your vehicles and building. And ensure that you have proof of ownership saved for all your items. All of this will assist you in having a smooth and pleasant claims experience.
Should you need assistance with your Short-Term Insurance, please feel free to contact us.
Our details are:
Houston Brown & Jackson (PTY) LTD T/A Wealth Craft
011 675 3671
admin@hbj.co.za
Our Short-Term Insurance Advisors are:
Andre Olivier
Certified Financial Planner ®
andre@hbj.co.za
Cherae Olivier
Certified Financial Planner ®
cherae@hbj.co.za
Please note that our response time is 48 hours (maximum), should we not respond within that time. Please give us a call as we may not have received your request.
