THE INSURER

Safire Insurance Newsletter 2016

NEWS FROM SAFIRE INSURANCE

September 2016
Accident while towing? Claims could be denied
South African drivers who have not kept up to date with amended regulations for towing trailers or caravans, run the risk of having insurance claims denied in the event of an accident. An ordinary driver’s licence only allows drivers to tow trailers lighter than 750kg. For anything larger, such as a caravan, one requires a Code EB licence. Vehicle insurance policies require drivers to have a valid driver’s licence and to act within the law. Consequently, if you have an accident and you have not adhered to the current regulations, your insurer may have cause to repudiate your claim.
Read more...
Rocket explodes, who pays?
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded at Cape Canaveral a few weeks ago, raising the question of who would pay. Almost forty companies offer space insurance, but it’s a risky business. In 2013, $775 million in premiums was outstripped by more than $800 million in claims. In 2014, insurers paid out about $650 million in claims on $700 million in premiums.
Tanker troubles
Piracy off West Africa is sending the cost of insurance for tankers through the roof. Additional premiums have to be paid if ships move through, load or discharge. cargoes from this region, largely because Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea are listed as high risk areas. Insurers determine premiums per individual case.
Deadly beds
Falling out of bed kills 450 people a year in the USA, 100 times more than those killed by sharks worldwide. Also lethal are icicles (killing 100 people a year in Russia alone), lightning (killing 10 000 people annually), lawnmowers (75 Americans killed a year), vending machines (37 deaths and 113 injured since 1978), and staircases (1600 deaths a year).
Storm warning
Storm season seems to have arrived early this year. Please take basic safety precautions such as ensuring gutters and drains are clear of leaves and able to cope with deluges of rainwater, and branches are cut back away from roofs. Also, unplug electrical equipment if there’s thunder and lightning nearby.
Remote arson
British expat Christopher Robinson has been accused of burning down his $1.6-million mansion in New Zealand, while 400km away. His insurers claim that their investigators can prove that he set the fire remotely, and five years later, no payout is in sight. In addition, Robinson has been charged with arson and falsifying an insurance claim.
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Crashingly bad drivers
Research by a British insurance company reveals that accountants are the most likely people to have a car accident, followed by solicitors, doctors and financial advisors. Bank managers, IT managers and pharmacists are also on the list. The safest drivers include farm workers, builders, lorry drivers, cleaners, butchers, painters and mechanics.
Horse power
Paralympic heroine
Spending habits
Where did the term “horsepower” originate? The actual peak horsepower of a real horse is 14.9. One horsepower was calculated by the Scottish engineer James Watt in the late 18th century as the effort required for a horse to raise 330 pounds of coal by 100 feet in one minute.


Blind American swimmer Trischa Zorn is the most decorated Paralympian ever, winning 55 medals, 41 of them gold, from 1980 to 2004. At this year's Paralympics in Rio, all 2,642 medals had small steel balls inside to make a noise when shaken and featured 'Rio 2016 Paralympic Games' in Braille.

According to newly released FNB Credit Card data, South African men outspend women on online shopping by 30%, with an average spend of R988 per month compared to R749 monthly spend by women. The data also indicates that men are twice as likely to skip a payment when compared to women.

Bee-wise elephants

Elephants cause tremendous damage to crops and can ruin subsistence farmers. A project in Kenya is using bees to not only produce honey and assist with pollination, but to scare off these massive mammals. Our branding message is all about symbiotic relationships, so this success story is especially relevant to us. Have a look…

Economic Tidbits
Economic Tidbits
Economic Tidbits
• R30 billion+ - the spend on IT by South Africa’s “Big 4”, the leading commercial and retail banks, in the year ending 30 June 2016.

• $3 billion - amount pledged by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife over the next decade to “cure, prevent or manage all disease”.


• R2.5 billion – what the SA Treasury says is needed to cover fee increases for poorer university students.

• 10% - amount of crop losses anticipated by Cape vegetable and citrus farmers. Some are not bothering to plant citrus because of the sharp rise in crime levels.



• 1.5 million – number of Syrian refugees hosted by Lebanon, which originally had a population of just 4 million people, more per capita than anywhere in the world.

• 83% - amount of food that is imported in Africa. So Africa can hardly feed its people. Even worse, it cannot feed its chickens so that it can feed its people.



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