Damages and losses due to looting and riots are putting business owners under immense pressure. The question which many South Africans are asking is, “Who covers these costs?”

The current civil commotion, according to the below article, will be covered by your SASRIA policy – although each claim will always be validated based on own merit.

If you broke out in cold sweat because you have no idea what SASRIA means, then we are here to clarify.

In case you weren’t aware, your insurance policy excludes riots, striking and public disorder, to mention just a few. SASRIA, which stands for South African Special Risk Insurance Association, is a state-owned entity which provides cover for such losses, and is the only insurer that does.

Insurance companies offer this optional cover to their clients at a nominal fee, or under specific conditions, it will be included automatically. Although it is optional, it is always recommended to include SASRIA in your insurance policy. If you are still not sure whether this is included in your cover, then now is the time to review your policy schedule. Your policy schedule will indicate under each risk insured whether you have SASRIA cover, along with the premium paid for such cover.

You may be thinking, “But I don’t pay 2 premiums for insurance, so surely I’m not covered?” Your insurer collects the SASRIA premium as part of your total monthly premium and then pays it over to SASRIA – thus, all of this happens behind the scenes. What is important to note is that you need to have the risk insured on your policy, and secondly, to make sure you opted for the cover and that you pay your premium. If you do not have a valid cover or a claim with your own insurer, it is safe to assume that SASRIA will also not consider your loss. So SASRIA only covers what you insured on your underlying policy!

Should a loss occur which is within the scope of cover offered by your SASRIA cover, you should still report the incident to your insurance company. They will obtain all the relevant information and documentation from you, and the claim with your insurance company will be declined – since the loss resulted from a specific policy exclusion. Your insurer will then pass the claim, along with all the relevant documentation, to SASRIA, who would then process the claim.

The common misperception by the general public is that your insurance company remains in the loop of the SASRIA claim, which is not the case. Once your insurer has transferred the loss to SASRIA, your insurer is no longer in control of the claims process, and all queries should be directed to SASRIA. The article we shared below also addresses possible concerns pertaining to SASRIA’s ability to pay claims, and doing so timeously.

Remember, as with any claim, the more supporting documents you can supply in proving your claim, the better. This will always go a long way in streamlining the claims process.

So we encourage you to spend a little extra time collecting as much information possible in proving your claim, which will save you a lot of time and effort in the long run.

Read the article here

Stay Safe,
Shaun Marshall
Prosumer Connect