It is highly advisable to insure your home, its contents, your car and your business in South Africa. In the unfortunate situation where you suffer a peril, there is nothing worse than also suffering a financial penalty due to lack of insurance.
Most insurance in South Africa is arranged via a registered broker, who should be authorised by the Financial Services Board to be able to provide appropriate advice and recommendations. Brokers, as in most countries, vary in size and type, but the same principles should apply when making your selection.
Risks associated with insufficient insurance
Tied agents/brokers
South Africa has a number of tied brokers who represent only one company. These brokers are only able to offer you that specific insurer’s product, which many not be the most suitable or cost-effective solution.
Premium levels
It is essential to look at more than one company’s options. You want to be sure that besides obtaining a cost effective option, you are not compromising on the cover in the process.
Broker fees
In South Africa a broker is allowed to add an additional charge to your premium by means of a broker fee. This has the impact of raising your premium level, meaning you pay more than you need to.
Advice
Receiving the right advice is the most important criteria in making your selection. Bad or poorly researched advice can lead to under insurance, claims not being paid out, premium levels being too high and events not being covered. In a worst case scenario it could actually render your insurance invalid.
Poor claims service
The whole reason we pay insurance is to compensate us for a loss in the event of a claim. It is when we have to make a claim that our relationship with our broker is most critical. Their help and assistance with preparing any claim is invaluable. Ask about their claims process and reassure yourself that it is up to your expectation and will add value in the unfortunate event that you suffer an insured loss.
Why should you use a broker?
Your claims history
One of the factors used by insurance companies in establishing your risk and premium rate is your claims history. A broker that specialises in arranging insurance for immigrants will be able to utilise your claims history to obtain lower premiums.
Convenience
As a new arrival in South Africa, even the easy things can become difficult – such as insuring your car with a foreign licence, insuring an imported vehicle, or opening a bank account from which to pay your premiums. Remove the hassle factors by dealing with a broker that has long established ties with this marketplace and has the systems and know-how in place to deal with it.
Proactive advice
When making decisions such as what car to buy, whether the price is right and what house to purchase, your broker can offer you valuable hints and tips. Often this can result in adding value to your final decision, helping to eliminate poor choices and ensuring no ‘special’ surprises afterwards.
How can we help?
The Incompass advantage
Incompass Insurance Consultants have been helping new arrivals and expatriates with insurance since 2003. It is an area we specialise in. We are able to provide you with proactive advice, enabling you to make the right decisions. We remove the hassle factors and as independent brokers, we are able to thoroughly research all available options with our wide range of insurance companies, to ensure you end up with the best cover for an affordable premium.
Our service is of a highly personal nature. We know our clients by name and take pride in the fact that 99% of our clients remain with us for many, many years and that our main source of business is recommendations. Please feel free to contact Incompass on the details below for your free and non obligatory consultation.
Although we specialise in home, car, commercial, Guest House and AirBnB Insurance, our focus has always been and remains on 3 key areas:
- The correct advice from experienced and qualified consultants
- First class service
- Being there when it counts – you need to claim
Will we give you money back when we can’t beat your premium? No. But will we make sure that your valid claim is paid? Absolutely! Contact Incompass today and see just what a difference we can make to your premium!
CONTACT US HERE TO DISCUSS YOUR GUEST HOUSE INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS
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