Post-lockdown, are your valuables properly insured?

It’s great to be out again, after lockdown restrictions have been take off in South Africa. Across the country we’re starting to seeing life as normal, dinner parties, visiting restaurants, enjoying city views, taking in matches and shows, and enjoying braai with friends. Even shopping junkets have resumed. South Africa COVID restrictions are gone, and we’re back to buying and socialising. But wait… does your insurance cover your valuables away from home?

Our spending patterns are now at pre-Covid era, we’ve bought billions worth of new goods since the easing of the Covid restrictions, but when they are out and about with you (or even stashed at home), you may not have enough insurance to cover your new acquisitions properly. The question is what questions should you be asking yourselves.

Do I have enough insurance for my valuables?

The simple truth is that a big share of newly acquired valuables – including jewellery and watches, mobile phones and other electronic gizmos, sports equipment, and speciality items like musical instruments are not adequately protected under everyday household and contents insurance coverage when they are out of the home. That has to be a concern now that we’re all back to being out and about, whether to our normal haunts, reunion meetings with recently isolated friends, or on long-delayed holidays abroad.

Is my collection insured?

A return to normality that has included collection-building – perhaps alongside the resumption of art fairs, auctions, and gallery visits – should also flag up insurance concerns. Even modest new purchases may be too good for your insurance. If you’ve acquired a Banksy print or a Gucci bag, for example, there’s a good chance it won’t be covered when it’s in your home, let alone if you’ve lost it in a taxi. Most South African insurance policies simply are not intended to cover such high-quality items. If they are insured, they probably have to be named specifically in the policy.

The return to normal life requires a careful reconsideration of the insurance you have in place to cover your personal possessions. Even the things you’ve had forever probably need to be reconsidered, and insured carefully: as global economies falter, the value of commodities such as gold, platinum, and diamonds has increased dramatically, and investment-grade collectibles are worth more too. Many items you might not have thought about for years could now be worth a lot more than they were a decade ago, leaving you badly in need of insurance that equals the quality of your possessions.

Your exit from lockdown isn’t complete until everything is properly insured for its full value against loss, accidental damage, and theft, in your home and outside of it, under a high-quality insurance policy. The buildings & contents cover you can buy from price-comparison websites and TV-ad companies simply won’t do the trick. Fortunately, there’s now a way to get high-quality cover for everything without a lot of effort.

The peace of mind that comes with knowing you’re properly covered is only a few clicks away. Insurance from Maksure Private Clients brings the comfort of entrusting your valuables to a reputable insurance company, home or away.

For more information or quote requests on Private Clients, contact our Specialist team on Tel +27 11 805 0086 or Email: info@maksure.co.za.

About Maksure Risk Solutions

Maksure Risk Solutions is an Afro-Global independent specialist insurance and reinsurance broker with business footprint in Africa, Asia, East & Western Europe, South America and the Caribbean. We provide innovative and tailor-made risk solutions in Insurance and Reinsurance as well as Risk Financing and Actuarial Consulting geared towards capital management and strengthening our client’s balance sheet. Maksure is also one of the major players in Captive Management (Establishment & Management) in South Africa, Mauritius, Bermuda and various other jurisdictions. We have access into the Lloyds of London with a deep understanding of African markets. Our global nature ensures that our clients access quality capacity as well as some of the world’s latest thinking and solutions