THE INSURER | MARCH 2018
Fast help when you need it
Help is just one number away! Safire Assist offers our clients a simple, one emergency contact number for Home, Medical and Roadside Assistance at times when you need help fast. Home Assist enables homeowners to easily call plumbers, electricians, locksmiths and other services. Roadside Assist offers help with minor roadside emergencies such as running out of fuel, a flat battery, a puncture, or keys locked in a vehicle. Medical Assist means that medical help is a single call away. The Safire App is invaluable when loaded on your cellphone, enabling you to scan licence disks and take photographs of car accident scenes, and call for Home, Medical and Roadside Assistance. These value-added services are all launching on 1 April 2018 – professional help is now just a single call away.
A Federal Emergency Management Agency official has warned residents of Florida in the USA that they should consider flood insurance as a matter of urgency. FEMA’s flood insurance programme covers almost three times as many policies in Florida than any other US state. Most of the state’s coastal communities are predicted to be under water by 2100, and Miami Beach is already flooding regularly. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, sea levels could rise by more than a metre by the end of this century, while the US Army Corps of Engineers predicts 1.5m; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts up to 2m. Miami Beach has already spent around $100-million on anti-flooding measures (with more budgeted). With climate change increasing storm intensity to the level of Hurricane Irma, such efforts are probably fruitless. Experts believe that in time, insurers will stop selling policies to homeowners in the area and banks will stop offering mortgages.
Congrats to Safire Berg 100 winners
We are proud sponsors of the Safire Berg 100, billed as one of the most challenging one day races in SA. This exciting and much-anticipated 100km MTB race took place on a wet and chilly Saturday 17 March, with hardy riders setting off for Himeville from Nottingham Road in the KZN Midlands. The race is hailed as being the perfect way to prepare for the Sani2C and JoBerg 2C events. Congratulations to the 2018 Safire Berg 100 riders who bravely tackled the cold and muddy conditions. Seen here are the top three of the men’s race, with race organiser Katie Fogg (left to right): Luke Chambers (3rd), Andrew Hill (1st), David Low (2nd) and Safire Financial Director Sean Stanton. Image: QUICKPIX.
Seen here is race organiser Katie Fogg (far left) with Safire’s Financial Director Sean Stanton and the ladies’ race winners, from left to right: Andrea De Boer (1st), Christie Header (2nd) and Hayley Smith (3rd). Image: QUICKPIX.
Climate change affecting wine
It’s not only the Cape that’s impacted by the drought; both Spain and Portugal are also in the grip of a very dry spell with dam levels at 40%. Extreme temperatures have caused wildfires in the wine-producing region of Northern California, decimating 98 000 hectares of land, much of it under vines, and causing the evacuation of 90 000 people from their homes. In contrast, unseasonal spring frosts in France and Germany have severely affected the region’s wine-growing areas. According to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine, global wine production is going to decrease by 8% to its lowest level in 50 years, with figures from Italy down 23%, France down by 20% and Spain by 15%. South Africa’s wine industry, which counts for 4% of global production, is bracing itself for the smallest harvest in more than a decade.
We are proud to have launched our Safire Learnership programme, which focuses on advancing bright young stars at Safire. The first applicants, who were chosen after a rigorous selection process, are (from left to right): Nqobile Mntungwa, Smangele Mbuli, Sinenhlanhla Mngadi, Londiwe Ndawonde, Nhlonipho Mchunu and Gugulethu Dlamini. All have tertiary qualifications and most are newly graduated from university with qualifications in Finance or Law. They will be completing a FETC in Short-term Insurance and undertaking in-house training on, for example, Underwriting and Claims processes, to ensure that they become highly skilled individuals in the short-term insurance industry. ‘We are delighted to add the Learnership programme to our various social development projects,’ says Safire CEO Pierre Bekker. ‘It offers talented young graduates an opportunity to gain hands-on experience of the insurance sector, and adds sharp, energetic minds to our highly professional team.’
The weeks are flashing by and the 2018 Safire King of the Sea competition on 12-13 May is almost here. This popular family-focused event takes place on the KZN South Coast, based at the Pumula Beach Hotel. Competitors pit their fishing skills against others in various categories including jetski, kayak and boat divisions. There is also a diving-for-crayfish challenge, which results in the highly anticipated crayfish-seafood feast on Sunday afternoon after the final weigh-in. If you’re in the area and/or a keen fisherman – don’t miss this weekend of action which has great prizes to be won.
Rum fact
The term ‘proof’ relating to alcohol comes from when sailors would test the quality of their rum ration – provided to prevent scurvy in the days before it was realised that it wasn’t the rum but the sailors’ habit of mixing it with fresh lime that was the health benefit. Rum was mixed with gunpowder and set alight: if it wouldn’t burn then it had been diluted. If it lit up they had ‘proof’ that their rum was 100% pure.
Family fun
Safire is sponsoring the 40km leg of the Husqvarna Classic Mid-Illovo Challenge and Trail Run taking place near Illovo, between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, on Sunday 22 April. This ROAG Series event has several options: the extreme 60km Husqvarna Classic MTB race offers challenging single tracks and an elevation of around 1200m, although there’s something for every level of fitness plus it’s a great family fun day in beautiful surroundings.
Spotify is here
The world’s largest music streaming platform, Spotify went live in SA this month, the first time it’s available in Africa. Users can browse, develop playlists, and share music with friends, with 35 million local and international songs available. It has 159 million active users, including over 71 million Spotify Premium subscribers, with a choice of a free ad-supported music service or an advert-free subscription option.
Tackling the Dragon Challenge
Watch this extreme driving challenge as a plug-in hybrid Range Rover SUV takes on a dangerous 45 degree angled climb up the 999 steps of Tianmen Mountain in China to reach Heaven’s Gate. Formula E driver Ho-Pin Tung coolly drives this electric-motored vehicle up a slope that could spell disaster with any error.
ECONOMIC TIDBITS
$600-billion – estimated annual cost of cybercrime globally, according to security firm McAfee and the Center for Strategic & International Studies.
$1-trillion – value of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, which has told the 9 100 companies it invests in to boost their anti-corruption measures.
$94-billion – value of Chinese investment in agriculture abroad, which has soared since 2010, with almost half of that invested in the past two years.
650 000 – number of stolen bitcoins supposedly laundered by a UK company, the London-based Always Efficient LLP.
3 152 – estimated number of Johannesburg households affected by a storm in December. One of the two contractors involved in the construction of properties was not registered with the National Home Builders Registration Council.
2030 – the year that the Indian government has set as the goal to ensure all new cars on the country’s roads are electric, to combat severe smog levels.
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.
Reg No: 2000/027673/06
An Authorised Financial Services Provider [FSP No: 2092]
