Inadequate cover these school holidays could cost you
Car and car insurer Dial Direct, advises that many people will find
themselves to be underinsured these July school holidays. With this knowledge,
the Company is issuing an urgent reminder to consumers to check the adequacy of
their car and household insurance as they may not enjoy the cover they think
they do, and be at higher risk for car breakdowns and home burglaries this
holiday season.
Says Lenerd Louw, Director of Dial Direct, "Basically, with
non-motor insurance cover, underinsurance is the situation where the insured has
not arranged adequate insurance cover for the financial value of the property
insured. In the event of a claim the principle of 'average' would then be
applied."
'Average' is an insurance principle which is fairly simple and an easy one to
understand. If an item or property is underinsured, the insured must bear a
rateable proportion of each and every loss. Simply put, when average is applied
each party, the insurer as well as the client, bear a fair share of the loss.
"At Dial Direct, we ensure that a customer takes sufficient cover
even though we charge competitive premiums by cutting out the middleman. We
ensure that all of our clients take into account everything that gets taken into
consideration when we evaluate the value of the contents in the home. A nice way
to explain this principle to clients is: if you take your home, and turn it
upside down, everything that falls out would constitute home contents and its
current replacement value should be included in the amount that clients insure
themselves for," adds Louw.
Another factor that the consumer does not consider is the current replacement
value of their items and that most insurance companies will replace new for old.
Even if the client purchased the item second hand, the insurer will consider the
current replacement cost of a new item because even a second hand item which is
stolen will be replaced with a new item.
"It always makes good sense to make sure that, rather than simply taking
cover for granted, your insurance is kept up to date and is adequate for your
needs. This means that you should always let your insurance company know if you
have bought additional valuable goods for your home which can be insured. Should
these not be insured, and be lost in a fire, flood, burglary or any other
tragedy, the insurer will not compensate you for your loss in full. Dial Direct
provides options to our customers, for instance, to be able to insure their cars
for either trade value, or market or retail value. In addition, we offer our
clients free roadside and home emergency assistance with their policies. Our
advice to anyone is to check they have the appropriate cover in relation to the
value of the goods they insure, rather than run the risk themselves of suffering
a personal loss which could be very costly," concludes Louw.
Distributed on behalf of Dial Direct
Contact Details Lenerd Louw
Tel: (011) 710-0050
E-mail: lenerd@upstream.co.za
Distributed by Upstream Advertising
Contact Details Jacoline Veldsman
Tel: (011) 710-0819 EE-mail: jacolinev at upstream.co.za
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