THE INSURER | JUNE 2018

Scam alert

A new scam is targeting those whose vehicles have been stolen or hijacked, according to The Insurance Crime Bureau. Complainants are being contacted by individuals claiming to be members of the South African Police Services. The ‘police officer’ explains that the vehicle has been recovered and will have the correct details for both the complainant/vehicle owner and the stolen vehicle. They say that the vehicle is at a remote location and will request money for a breakdown service to transport it back to the owner or to the nearest pound, or say that the fee will pay for the police officer to return the vehicle personally. “The general public is not familiar with police procedure, and they are not aware that the South African Police Service will not ask a fee following the recovery of a stolen vehicle,” the Bureau said. Read more…

In May, a data leak exposed the personal records of almost a million South Africans. In mid-June, Liberty was, despite extensive security systems, hacked. In October 2017, the biggest data breach in the country’s history occurred with the “Master Deeds” breach which affected almost the entire population, exposing sensitive information such as ID numbers. With 21-million internet users countrywide, South Africans are extremely vulnerable to internet crime. We do everything over the internet: our work, our personal and social lives, our banking and interactions with institutions such as Home Affairs and South African State Security Agency (Sassa). Banks, private companies and some state-owned enterprises spend millions securing their systems against such attacks and cybercrime. Despite this, they are hacked. Read more…

On Thursday 7 June, golfers took part in our annual Safire Golf Day held at Victoria Country Club in Pietermaritzburg. The winning four ball were (from left to right, seen here with Safire CEO Pierre Bekker), Sonja Purdon, Anel Niebuhr, Lindy Truter and Debbie Fradle. Roger Skene won the ‘Balls to the Wall’ challenge. Congratulations to our 2018 winners!

Reminder about our Safire app

Our Safire app offers our clients enhanced control over the management of their personal short-term insurance via their mobile phones. Now you can store personal information for quick access in an emergency situation; use a panic button for immediate assistance via the Safire Assist call centre; call for emergency assistance services (Roadside, Medical Access and Home Assist); arrange for notification of a motor accident claim (and capture photographs, scan third party licence disks and driver’s licences etc to speed up the processing of your claim); and manage vehicle pre-inspections (capture photographs, scan the licence disk etc). The Safire Assist app can be downloaded free of charge from the relevant Apple or Android app stores.

Viking tech

Bluetooth peer-to-peer wireless technology was developed in an Ericsson lab in Sweden in the 1990s. It is named after a tenth-century Viking leader, Harald Bluetooth (an anglicised version of Blaatand), King of Denmark and Norway, who was known for his unification of warring tribes by getting them to communicate.

Global monarchs

There are currently 44 sovereign states in the world led by a monarch, including five absolute monarchies, three mixed monarchies (combining democracy, aristocracy, and monarchy) and 36 constitutional monarchies (where a monarch acts as head of state within the controls of a constitution). The UK has been a constitutional monarchy since 1688.

Military might

While North Korea is the 52nd largest country by population, it is considered to have the world's fourth largest army with 1.2 million active personnel and 5.7 million reservists. It also has the longest compulsory military service in the world: 10 years for men and a minimum of 7 years for women.

Driver safety tips

We are vulnerable when in a vehicle so take note of these safety suggestions.

Keep your parking ticket with you – you might have to pay inside the mall, and it makes it easier for criminals to get away with your car if you leave them the ticket.
Keep small change in the console instead of opening your purse or wallet to get money for car guards, newspapers etc.
Note where you are parked, maybe take a pic of the bay number or landmark on your mobile phone so you don’t have to wander around, searching for your car.
Drive defensively: pause to check on other drivers even when you have right of way, and drive courteously and politely. Aggression on the roads leads to road rage incidents and accidents.
Watch your fuel gauge: don’t run out of fuel.
Be aware of blindspots – double check in your mirror before changing lanes, and keep a special lookout for motorbikes that can speed up behind or next to you.
Slow down when children, animals and livestock are on the side of the road – it only takes a second for them to run out in front of you. Be observant at all times.

Winter car-care

In winter, basic car-care measures can help maintain your vehicle’s condition. Rather than starting up and leaving the vehicle to idle with the choke on (also a hijacking/theft risk), most handbooks advise that you should drive off slowly immediately after starting. This enables all moving parts to warm up quicker at the same time. According to Car magazine, ‘a choke delivers an over-rich mixture, which promotes engine wear, because some of the unburnt fuel flows past the rings, and ends up in the oil. The choke should be used sparingly, and only when the engine will not run happily without it’. With diesel vehicles, starting in very cold conditions may be a problem, not because the diesel ‘freezes’ but because it enters a ‘waxing phase’ where it may block the diesel filter and prevent starting. Diesel vehicles subjected to temperatures of below minus four degrees may be difficult to start. There are additives that can lower the ‘freezing’/waxing point (in Scandinavia, diesel is useable at minus forty degrees) but a simpler solution is to park under cover or inside a garage.

Solar-powered weeding robot

Ecorobotix has developed an autonomous solar-powered weeding machine that can operate independently for 12 hours. It’s an incredible piece of technology that shows how AI could transform agriculture in the very near future. Have a look...

Watch

ECONOMIC TIDBITS

$374 000 – amount the world’s largest freshwater pearl was sold for on auction in The Hague.

R587-billion – size of the SA government wage bill, almost a third of the annual budget.

$800 – price per carat for synthetic gem diamonds to be sold by De Beers from September.

R1.63-billion – ‘philanthropic income ’ received in 2016 by 12 of the country’s 26 universities that participated in a recent survey.

$6-billion – estimated revenue that FIFA is expected to make from the 2018 World Cup, up 25% from the previous tournament.

R43-billion – value of SA’s private label retail category of ‘own brand’ products sold exclusively by individual retailers.

The Insurer newsletter and the content of any article published herein, should not be construed as forming part of any insurance contract or policy nor as constituting any form of advice. It is aimed at providing an informal and informative read to the readers thereof. Whilst every effort is taken to attempt to ensure the accuracy and correctness of the information contained herein, Safire Insurance Company Limited does not give any assurance regarding such accuracy or correctness and accordingly does not accept any liability whatsoever for any loss or damage, whether direct, indirect or consequential, arising from any reliance placed in the information contained herein.

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