THE INSURER | MAY 2018

Drumbeats to warn of disaster

The beating of homemade drums is being used as an early warning system on remote Indonesian islands. According to the World Bank, Indonesia has experienced around 290 significant natural disasters annually over the past 30 years, including the 2004 tsunami. After this tragedy, Jakarta reformed its institutions, laws and policies to better manage disaster risk. However, Indonesian women’s traditional role in running the household means they are sometimes left behind at home during evacuations or are unaware of safety procedures. Most of the 167 000 casualties of the 2004 tsunami were women. Civil society groups are involving women in disaster risk reduction programmes, training them to map out neighborhoods to identify risks and collect rubbish from rivers to help keep the flow unimpeded. They recycle plastic waste for money, make life-buoys from rope and tyres, and produce early-warning drums from bamboo. The women are trained in evacuation procedures and first aid, and help fill and place sandbags along embankments when waters rise.

According to the Ombudsman for Short-term Insurance, “Fraud is one of the greatest problems facing the South African Insurance Industry. All too many claims include some element of fraud, varying from exaggeration of the amount claimable to outright falsity of the alleged facts relied on.” It is the client’s responsibility to provide the required information so that the insurer can accurately underwrite (assess and price) the level of risk. The Office of the Ombudsman “sees too many cases where policyholders intentionally provided incorrect details at sales stage in the hope of paying a cheaper premium. Policyholders sometimes neglect to reveal having suffered previous losses or having cover refused by a previous insurer. Once cover is provided, it is your duty to inform your insurer of any material change of details.” In the case of vehicle insurance, this may include a new address (some areas are higher risk than others), a different regular driver, the number of claims submitted and so forth. You are also required to be entirely truthful about circumstances resulting in a claim. The insurer needs to establish facts surrounding the loss to determine liability in terms of the policy.

Safire recently held a farewell event for one of its longest-serving director, Reg Niebuhr, who has been with Safire since its establishment in 1987. Reg recently made the decision to retire from the Safire Board. The company’s management team and the other Board directors met at Star Dam in the KZN Midlands, where tribute was paid to Reg’s 31 years of service towards shaping Safire from its earliest days. Safire CEO Pierre Bekker says, “Reg has been an integral part of our history since day one and he will be sorely missed.” Reg (right) is seen sharing a few memories with Pierre Bekker at the farewell.

Crowning 2018’s King of the Sea

The weather gods didn’t smile on day one of the Safire King of the Sea fishing challenge, held on the South Coast and based at Pumula Beach Hotel on 12-13 May, but the eager competitors took advantage of the calmer seas on Sunday to bring in some impressive catches. The overall winner was Michael Wheeler with his magnificent 32.35kg couta. That’s quite a fish to beat in 2019!

School bags for Fairleigh

Safire sponsored the 40km leg of the Husqvarna Classic MTB Mid-Illovo Challenge and Trail Run that took place near Mid-Illovo outside Pietermaritzburg on 22 April. This race aims to uplift local communities and almost 230 Mid-Illovo disadvantaged children recently received innovative Uzwelo schoolbags with built-in raincoat ponchos. The schoolbags resulted from a challenge issued by race organiser Shanon MacKenzie to corporates and participants to pledge schoolbags to local children. Uzwelo (a local self-help initiative), produces the robust bags from Expand a Sign’s waste textile fabric. The school bag campaign is in its second year and 500 local pupils have now benefitted. The first 2018 handover of bags took place at Fairleigh Primary School, to scores of excited youngsters.

Book drive

Education and literacy are major factors in Safire’s social responsibility programme, and Safire staff and their families recently helped collect suitable books for TPA Full Service School and Hayfields Primary School in Pietermaritzburg where Safire’s Head Office is situated.

Mother’s Day origins

Have you ever wondered why we celebrate Mothers’ Day in May? It stems from the ancient Roman calendar, with ‘May’ derived from ‘Maia’, who was a nymph in Greek and Roman mythology and the goddess of spring and rebirth.

Connectivity

According to Brand Atlas, the main devices used by economically active South Africans to access the internet are Smartphones (83%), laptops (56%), and tablets or eReaders (27%). Around 30% only ever use Smartphones to access the internet.

Get the Safire app

In today’s tech-savvy world, consumers have developed a growing reliance on smartphones, mobile apps and social media. We launched our Safire app in April so that our clients can enjoy access to several functions from their mobile phone, giving them enhanced control over the management of their personal short-term insurance. The following functions are now available at the touch of a button:

storing personal information for quick access in an emergency situation;
panic button for immediate assistance via the Safire Assist call centre;
access to emergency assistance services (Roadside, Medical Access and Home Assist);
notification of a motor accident claim: capture photographs, scan third party licence disks and driver’s licences etc to speed up the processing of motor claims;
vehicle pre-inspections (capture photographs, scan the licence disk etc).

The Safire app can be downloaded free of charge from the relevant Apple or Android app stores. Search for Safire Assist and then follow the instructions. The Safire app has been designed to make your life easier, so download it now.

Helping fight cancer with phones

Another app that might save lives is DreamLab, an app developed by the Vodafone Foundation and London’s Imperial College. The app is designed to be used at night when your Smartphone is connected to power and a Wi-Fi connection, so it can run throughout the night performing calculations when lying idle. The app uses an algorithm to break down enormous datasets into manageable chunks, which are then analysed by a network of Smartphones. Ultimately each network looks for connections between the datasets that could identify more effective combinations of existing drugs to treat cancer. The team believes they can drastically reduce the amount of time it takes to perform these calculations. Using a standard eight-core computer running 24-hours a day it would take around 300 years to process the datasets. However with 100,000 Smartphones running just six hours a night that same amount of data could be processed in three months. A new Smartphone can run up to 60 calculations and solve around 24,000 problems in a single night.

The latest technology news

This YouTube clip speeds through some of the latest technology news from around the globe. Have a look.

Watch

ECONOMIC TIDBITS

$175-billion - the amount of money Russia will apparently have to find to finance 35 nuclear reactors before it can assist with SA’s ‘is it/isn’t it happening’ nuclear programme.

44.5% - amount that fraud using lost and/or stolen credit cards increased by between 2016 and 2017, according to the South African Risk Information Centre.

R425-million - estimated amount of class action suits against Tiger Brands after the deadly ST6 strain of listeria was found in its Polokwane factory.

365 – number of days that an experimental unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone being developed by British companies will be able to fly without landing.

86% - amount that solar energy costs have declined by in the US in the past eight years, thanks to support from previous administrations.

$1.7-trillion – amount of global military spending, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Russia's expenditure fell for the first time since 1998, while the US paid the same as in 2016.

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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