Old Mutual Insure expects an influx of storm and rain-related claims in the Western Cape once customers had an opportunity to assess the damage, the insurers chief executive for retail, Soul Abraham said yesterday.
They had so far received mostly claims for flooding and for collapsed structures that were related to the recent storms in the province, he said in response to Business Report questions.
“As a risk business, we take proactive measures to ensure we are equipped for crises like these. We understand the sense of urgency on behalf of our clients so we have instituted various measures to ensure our affected customers are helped as quickly as possible,” he said.
Additional resources had been deployed, including a dedicated management team and manager to handle the specific claims arising out of the Western Cape floods.
“These experts are equipped to handle the unique challenges posed by such events and will ensure that claims are processed with speed and efficiency. We have also encouraged brokers to take immediate action to minimise further damages and protect our customers' properties should emergency repairs or flood restoration measures be required. We have already pre-authorised some of these measures.”
He said the recent rains and storms in the province were a significant event for 2023 in insurance terms, but at this stage the potential damages did not seem to be to the extent of those resulting from last year’s KwaZulu-Natal floods.
Santam said in response to BR queries that their claims teams were busy assessing damage in the area as the floods continued throughout the region.
By the end of last week, Santam had received reports of damage to policyholders’ property in areas such as Paarl, Wellington, Stellenbosch, Somerset West, Franschhoek and Worcester.
“It is still too early to quantify the extent of the damage. We expect to have a better picture over the coming days as we begin to receive claim volume feedback. We have also begun receiving reports of flood damages in Gansbaai. We are dispatching assessors. We are also contacting our external assessors in George and Oudtshoorn, to ascertain if there is damage in those areas,” said Rowland Ramalingam, Santam’s head of non-motor claims.
By the time of going to print, other insurers had failed to yet respond.
BUSINESS REPORT