Capital Equipment News September 2021

Ensuring business continuity in times of uncertainty is the purpose of insurance.

break in cover as this will affect premiums going forward,” says Faure. “Secondly, it’s crucial that mission-critical assets remain protected against unforeseen incidents and accidents.” He says a leading global reinsurer’s data shows that fire is responsible for more than a quarter of all engineering claims, for example: “It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, the losses are significant.” Relief efforts Capital equipment premiums often cater for liability exposure and, in response to the pandemic, King Price’s engineering division has discounted premiums, excluded liability cover, and restricted cover to fire and theft. “We also adjusted premiums to account for the reduced risks around movement of equipment and human error,” says Faure. “The discounts were less about the pre- miums and more about human response. Our discounts were consistent with the rest of the industry, with all insurers coming to the table to try to help clients through tough times.” Coetzee says Auto & General focused on offering peace of mind to its custom- ers, and on aiding its broker partners and small business, including those within its value chain. “We introduced premium flexibility, policy pauses, retrenchment waivers, halts on policy reviews, excess waivers and discounts of up to 20%. Beyond premium flexibility, customers were provided with complementary access to a medical hotline which provides advice on COVID-19.” Business insurance customers were also given access to a service providing small businesses with technical support while they work remotely. Auto & General’s holding company also launched a R70-million relief fund to assist small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

QUICK TAKE

For some business owners, business interruption cover was a lifeline during the national lockdowns

Today’s end-user is a lot more insurance and digitally aware than before the pandemic

One of the biggest trends since the advent of the pandemic has been a growing uptake of usage-based insurance

King Price’s engineering division has discounted premiums, excluded liability cover and restricted cover to fire and theft

Auto & General introduced premium flexibility, policy pauses, retrenchment waivers, halts on policy reviews, excess waivers and discounts of up to 20%

Importance of maintaining cover There are two main reasons for capital equipment owners to maintain their insurance cover, even in tough times. “Firstly, it’s important that there is no

insurance industry’s move towards greater use of technologies such as artificial intelligence, which allows insurers to score risk more consistently and to underwrite with greater certainty.

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS SEPTEMBER 2021 27