{"id":16213,"date":"2025-03-18T10:07:31","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T11:07:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/?p=16213"},"modified":"2025-03-21T10:56:16","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T10:56:16","slug":"natural-disasters-on-the-rise-check-your-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/builder\/natural-disasters-on-the-rise-check-your-insurance\/","title":{"rendered":"Natural disasters on the rise \u2013 check your insurance"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post<\/a> was originally published on this site<\/a><\/p>

What appears to have been a tornado swept through Montana in northern Pretoria last week, causing widespread damage to cars, buildings, the contents of these buildings, external geysers, and more. Trees were uprooted, roofs were blown away, areas and roads were flooded, and many residents had to be evacuated.<\/span><\/p>\n

This extreme weather event is yet to be categorised as either a tornado or a \u201clandspout\u201d by the SA Weather Service and, while South Africa isn\u2019t historically known as a tornado hotspot, it would be the second such weather incident within the space of a year. <\/span><\/p>\n

Wynand van Vuuren, client experience partner at King Price Insurance, says that the country\u2019s most common natural disasters \u2013 floods, droughts, fires, and large storms \u2013 are on the rise, and lighting strikes, hail damage, wind storms, and sea level rises are also happening more often. And, consumers who do not insure their cars, buildings and home contents are becoming ever-more vulnerable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe cost of fixing the damage caused by natural disasters is increasing every year and South Africans who do not have adequate insurance are having to pay these costs out of their own pockets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Having to fix damage caused by a natural disaster can be a devastating blow to your finances. Only around 30-40% of cars on South African roads are insured. When it comes to their buildings and home contents, most South Africans focus on cover for robbery and break-ins, but they don\u2019t pay enough attention to protecting their homes and possessions against the effects of natural disasters. And, if they do, many are under-insured \u2013 and often only realise this when it\u2019s time to claim.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under-insurance is when your buildings and home contents are covered for an amount that\u2019s less than their replacement value at today\u2019s prices. In such cases, valid claims are paid out proportionately. For example, if the value of your building is R400 000 and you only insure it for R200 000, then you\u2019ll likely be compensated for only 50% of your loss.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2024, natural disasters across the world caused losses estimated at $320 billion. Of this, only around half was insured. Munich Re, one of the largest reinsurers in the world, polled homeowners as to whether they had considered expanding their insurance in response to increasing weather disaster risks: 57% indicated that they wanted to do so, but cost was a factor.<\/span><\/p>\n

 \u201cOne of the main reasons that people give for not insuring their property is financial. I always ask these clients what they would do if they lost their house. Can they afford not to insure their buildings?\u201d says Van Vuuren.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many consumers also doubt the ability of insurers to pay massive claims caused by natural catastrophes, which can run into hundreds of millions of rands per event.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to paying claims, there\u2019s no need for concern. In South Africa, the industry regulator requires all insurers to maintain adequate surplus funds for potential claims. If you lose your house, you\u2019ve dotted the Is and crossed the Ts on your insurance policy, and your claim is valid, you\u2019ll be paid out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What appears to have been a tornado swept through Montana in northern Pretoria last week, causing widespread damage to cars, buildings, the contents of these buildings, external geysers, and more. Trees were uprooted, roofs were blown away, areas and roads were flooded, and many residents had to be evacuated.This extreme weather event is yet to be categorised as either a tornado or a \u201clandspout\u201d by the SA Weather Service and, while South Africa isn\u2019t historically known as a tornado hotspot, it would be the second such weather incident within the space of a year.\u00a0Wynand van Vuuren, client experience partner at King Price Insurance, says that the country\u2019s most common natural disasters \u2013 floods, droughts, fires, and large storms \u2013 are on the rise, and lighting strikes, hail damage, wind storms, and sea level rises are also happening more often. And, consumers who do not insure their cars, buildings and home contents are becoming ever-more vulnerable.\u201cThe cost of fixing the damage caused by natural disasters is increasing every year and South Africans who do not have adequate insurance are having to pay these costs out of their own pockets.\u201dHaving to fix damage caused by a natural disaster can be a devastating blow to your finances. Only around 30-40% of cars on South African roads are insured. When it comes to their buildings and home contents, most South Africans focus on cover for robbery and break-ins, but they don\u2019t pay enough attention to protecting their homes and possessions against the effects of natural disasters. And, if they do, many are under-insured \u2013 and often only realise this when it\u2019s time to claim.Under-insurance is when your buildings and home contents are covered for an amount that\u2019s less than their replacement value at today\u2019s prices. In such cases, valid claims are paid out proportionately. For example, if the value of your building is R400 000 and you only insure it for R200 000, then you\u2019ll likely be compensated for only 50% of your loss.In 2024, natural disasters across the world caused losses estimated at $320 billion. Of this, only around half was insured. Munich Re, one of the largest reinsurers in the world, polled homeowners as to whether they had considered expanding their insurance in response to increasing weather disaster risks: 57% indicated that they wanted to do so, but cost was a factor.\u00a0\u201cOne of the main reasons that people give for not insuring their property is financial. I always ask these clients what they would do if they lost their house. Can they afford not to insure their buildings?\u201d says Van Vuuren.Many consumers also doubt the ability of insurers to pay massive claims caused by natural catastrophes, which can run into hundreds of millions of rands per event.\u201cWhen it comes to paying claims, there\u2019s no need for concern. In South Africa, the industry regulator requires all insurers to maintain adequate surplus funds for potential claims. If you lose your house, you\u2019ve dotted the Is and crossed the Ts on your insurance policy, and your claim is valid, you\u2019ll be paid out.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-builder"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16213"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16214,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16213\/revisions\/16214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}