THE INSURER JANUARY 2018

Extend the life of your cellphone

There are certain measures we can take to extend the life of our cellphones. For example, a phone should never be left lying in direct sunlight or in a hot vehicle (where it may also attract the attention of criminals). Knowing which type of battery your phone uses and recharging accordingly is also important, as is altering display settings and turning off unused apps.

The Safire Berg 100 MTB race on 17 March is just weeks away, with riders soon to be winding through scenic KZN countryside to Himeville from this year’s start in Nottingham Road. The 100km race’s unique format sees the start and finish alternating each year between these villages. The organisers have arranged shuttles to make life a bit easier for riders, with car and bike+rider options.

It’s a good idea at the beginning of the year to look at your insurance cover and update it in line with your possibly altered needs. Have you made improvements to your home over the past few months that add value? Did you buy a car for your child after they Matriculated? Did you splash out over the festive season and upgrade your TV/sound system/computer? Check to ensure that you are adequately covered.

A guest from Lloyds

Safire recently hosted Tim Butcher, a liability underwriter from Lloyds who was visiting from the UK. Lloyds and Tim are a significant part of our thirty year history, having consistently supported Safire since the inception of the Liability reinsurance programme. Seen here is Tim (left), with Safire CEO Pierre Bekker.

Avoid road rage

It’s back to work after the holidays: back to deadlines, back to stress. With summer heat adding to aggression levels, avoid becoming a road rage statistic. Keep anger in check and don’t accost other drivers, even if they do something reckless that upsets you. Avoid competitive situations and don’t engage in challenging behaviour such as tailgating, cutting people off or hooting excessively. Never pull off the road to confront another driver. Avoid provocation and change your attitude while driving – it simply isn’t worth it. If you feel at risk, drive directly to the nearest police station or a petrol station where there are other people.

Safer car initiative

A vehicle safety initiative was launched in Cape Town in December to highlight the need for all cars on our roads to have safety features. The move for safer vehicles both locally and in other emerging markets is part of the global Sustainable Development Goal effort to halve road traffic deaths by 2020. Other emerging markets such as India, South America and South East Asia introduced car assessment programmes to produce safer cars over the past five years. Road deaths are at a 10-year high in South Africa yet some of the best-selling vehicles do not provide even the most basic safety features.

Gold ATM

An ATM in the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, one of the region’s top hotels, dispenses gold bars. The machine monitors the daily price of gold and offers small bars that weigh up to 0.35 ounces/10 grams or coins with customised designs. German entrepreneur Thomas Giessler, who came up with the innovative idea, says he chose Abu Dhabi because of its ‘high-rolling atmosphere’.

A long walk

The world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge has opened in the Swiss Alps. The 494m long Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge is just 65cm wide and is 86m above the ground at its highest point. It takes roughly ten minutes to cross the bridge, a journey that previously took hikers four hours. A special system prevents the bridge from swaying.

Seaside drones

Australian lifeguards were testing a drone, part of a new life-saving/shark-spotting programme, when two teenagers were noticed battling high swells. A lifeguard steered the drone towards the swimmers before it released an inflatable rescue pod, and with its support they made their way to shore. The rescue took just 70 seconds, and didn’t require that lifeguards risked their lives.

What's hot?

Discover the predicted trends of 2018 from the world’s largest tech show, the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which has over 60 acres of exhibition halls, nearly 4000 exhibitors and 170,000 visitors…

ECONOMIC TIDBITS

11% - the decrease in the 2017 festive season road death toll, to 1527 from 1714 in 2016/2017.

16,74 million – amount in tonnes of this season’s anticipated bumper maize crop, the largest on record.

36.6 million – number of ‘normal’ debit orders processed in South Africa via EFT each month.

6.5 million – number of passengers accommodated once the multi-million dollar new terminal at Julius Nyerere International Airport is complete.

3.2% - the World Bank’s estimated growth rate for sub-Saharan Africa in 2018, up from 2.4 in 2017.

109 000 – number of job losses in the agricultural sector for the final three quarters of 2017, with about 84% in the drought-afflicted Western Cape.

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