Household incomes are being stretched for most South Africans, as the economy adjusts to our changing environment. To help your members on their journey towards financial well-being, Gari Dombo, managing director of Alexander Forbes Insurance, shares insight into making sure they only pay for the insurance cover they need.
Financial services
It’s important for individuals to get the maximum value from their insurance cover by only paying for the cover they need.
Insurance premiums depend partially on the assessment of a person’s risk factors, so making a few simple adjustments and changes now can have long-term benefits in decreasing a person’s monthly insurance premium. It’s advisable for individuals to evaluate their insurance policy when their circumstances change to make sure they get the cover they need, within the budget they have.
Here’s what individuals can do to cater to their specific insurance needs:
Car insurance
You can keep your car insurance premium down by driving a lower powered, lower value or lower risk car, limiting your mileage, adjusting the annual depreciation value of your car and upgrading the security level by installing a tracking device. You can also consider attending an advanced driving course to improve your chances of an accident-free driving record, increasing your excess voluntarily and insuring your car for named drivers only. Look at the cover extensions that are charged for and decide if you really need them. For example, if you have more than one car in the household, do you really need car hire cover? You should consider taking out catastrophe risk cover self-insure the smaller risks. One could also consider advanced driving lessons.
Household insurance
On your contents cover, you may decide that certain items would not be replaced, like that old grandfather clock or a sentimental piece of jewellery. These you could negotiate with your insurer to have removed from your sum insured. It’s important to re-evaluate your insured items every year to decide if the possibility or severity of a risk makes the item worth insuring. If you consider reducing your cover or self-insuring, then put the premium away in a savings account or your retirement fund each month to provide for the extra risk that you are now taking on.
Business insurance
Review your business insurance regularly to identify those items less important to you and make sure you have not duplicated cover or have unnecessary coverage. Talk to your insurance broker or consultant to determine what you can do to lower your business insurance cost. The key is to identify critical business imperatives that will need to be covered to ensure business continuity in the event of a loss . Examples would be installing a security system or fire prevention system or changing locations and getting an inspection done.
It’s important for individuals to get the maximum value from their insurance cover by only paying for the cover they need. This will match their cover to risk and help improve their risk profile.
Risk management generally is important to any business. Act as if you are uninsured – that should always be the guiding principle. Avoid multiple claims termed nuisance claims by insures as these tend to impact the cost of insurance.
By consolidating insurance needs into a single policy, individuals can get substantial discounts, especially if they own a number of cars, properties or a business.
Article credit: http://www.fanews.co.za/article/short-term-insurance/15/general/1217/unique-insurance-for-unique-individuals/19834
