A frightfully high percentage of people over 50 lose out when they submit an insurance claim.
This shocking fact was revealed in a survey recently conducted by a leading Gauteng short-term insurance brokerage, IntegriSure.
“We have found that 46% of all respondents are underinsured,” says the Managing Director of IntegriSure, Arnold van der Linde. “Sadly, many of the older folk have lost track of the fact that it is infinitely more expensive to replace a house and its contents today than twenty or thirty years ago when it was bought. And there is no ulterior motive – just pure ignorance. That swanky embuia dining-room suite with its eight chairs that was bought in the seventies for perhaps
R1 500, could now cost around R60 000 to replace if it was destroyed in a fire.”
Van der Linde says their survey indicates that people underestimate the value of their possessions by 40% on average. “Although underinsurance is prevalent among people of all ages, it is mostly the elderly who don’t realise how prices of goods acquired many years ago have increased tenfold or more through the years. Food price inflation, for instance, is experienced on a daily basis, but not that of furniture bought a decade or two ago.”
He reiterates the importance of utilizing the services of a reliable broker and reviewing one’s insurance portfolio once a year. “The few rands implied in a total monthly premium by ensuring that one’s property is insured at the current replacement value, is nothing compared with the peace of mind brought along by knowing that one is fully covered in the event of damage or loss.
“It is also an excellent opportunity to adjust the insured value of one’s vehicles. Because vehicle claims are settled according to the reasonable market value, it is possible to reduce the premium on a vehicle if its market value has decreased,” Van der Linde says.