Why do Real Estate businesses need insurance?
While you take your customers’ worries away by finding their dream homes, we’ll take your worries away by providing the appropriate business insurance.
Whether you sell or rent out the best houses in town, student accommodation, or large commercial blocks, with just a few clicks or a single phone call, you can get multiple competitive quotes from some of South Africa’s leading insurers and get covered instantly.
What should I consider before purchasing insurance for my Real Estate business?
Protecting your business from unexpected events and challenges is where business insurance comes into play, providing cover for when you need it most for things like buildings, business interruption, public liability claims and theft.
Fundamental Insurance for Real Estate
Regularly selected Insurance for Real Estate
Insurance for Real Estate businesses
Buildings
Buildings are very important assets for a real estate business. This insurance can protect your organisation when your buildings are damaged due to fire, storm, earthquake, wind and more.
You may also want to cover the Contents of your buildings (office equipment, machines and stock).
Business Interruption
Business Interruption cover is important in the continuity in any business. What happens if there are major disruptions which cause your tenants to be unable to live in your buildings?
This type of insurance covers financial loss as a result of an interruption to your business caused by an insured event (such as fire).
Theft
Theft insurance can cover the items at the properties you rent out or the offices where you operate from. You may fall victim to theft or fraud from a renter or armed robbers, rather have the correct cover in place.
To cover the theft of portable items such as cellphones, you will need to get Portable Possessions cover.
Public Liability Insurance
Public Liability covers for the many possible accidents that could happen in a real estate business environment.
This cover is designed to provide protection for you and your business in the event that a tenant, customer, supplier or a member of the public is injured or sustains property damage as a result of your negligent business activities.
Accidental Damage
Accidental damage covers loss from unexpected and unforeseen physical loss of or damage to business property at your premises; can also include damage caused by discharge or leakage of chemicals, oils, liquids, fluids, gases or fumes which can cause severe damage to your business.
Contents
Contents insurance is designed to provide cover for your contents (tables, chairs, cabinets), as well as machinery and stock when an insured event occurs – such as fire, storm or theft (only limited theft cover, for comprehensive theft cover see the Theft section).
If you own the building where your business activities take place, you might also consider Buildings insurance.
Glass
Glass can be very expensive to replace if someone accidentally breaks it, many buildings have large glass panes and take this cover to protect themselves when that glass comes crashing down.
Getting the Right Insurance for Real Estate businesses
Your real estate business is unique, having its own risks and insurance needs. Bi-me gives you access to multiple quotes to compare with some of South Africa’s top insurers, so you can choose the right cover to suit your business.
Our friendly team is only a phone call or a few clicks away to assist with getting your business covered in minutes.
Did you know?
There are over 17 million households in South Africa and a majority of them rent the place where they stay. Landlords and managers who don’t get cover for their properties are not covered for damages, theft, liability claims and more.
Could this happen to your business?
-
Tenant tripping
A light went out in a building and resulted in a tenant falling over the step at night and getting severely injured. Public Liability insurance covered the owner for the legal claims arising from this event.
-
Fire on floor four
An accommodation block full of students caught fire after a tenant forgot his electric blanket on. Everybody was evacuated, but the building suffered severe damage. The owner had Buildings insurance which covered the cost of repairs, as well as Business Interruption to cover the loss of rental income.
Frequently asked questions
If a financial institution (e.g. a bank) is financing a part of your building, it is usually required to get proof of insurance (which you can get from your Bi-me portal once you have bought a policy).
There are many incidents (fire, storm, flood, etc.) which can cause your building to be uninhabitable. Tenants being unable to live in the building will lead to a loss of rent.
Damage to your building can be covered in the Buildings section. And included in the buildings cover is 25% rent cover (e.g. if you insure your building for R1,000,000 – you will have R250,000 rent protection).
Yes, you can cancel your policy with immediate effect 24/7 on your Bi-me portal. We will then process your pro-rata refund (if applicable) – the money should be back in your account within 7 working days.