Theft insurance covers your office contents, stock, machines and other items inside of your buildings for theft, attempted theft or armed hold up. It is normal for theft insurance to require the stolen item to have been securely stored before the theft and for there to be evidence of forced entry.
If your office contents, stock or machines are important to your business, and you are worried about them being stolen, Theft insurance could be a good product for you. Compared to other countries, theft insurance is taken up regularly in South Africa due to the high rate of theft.
Your office contents (furniture, computers, etc.) will have limited theft protection if you have office contents insurance in the Contents section. You can look at the policy wording and policy schedule to find out how much cover you have, but it is usually about 25% of the value that you insure.
Your insurance policy will have its own specific list of insured events and exclusions. It is best to check with your insurer or the policy wording to confirm the details of your Theft insurance policy.
Some commonly covered and not covered items include:
Most businesses choose the maximum amount of loss that their business might experience in a single event.
For example: if a business has R100 000 worth of stuff that could be stolen in one event, they usually get R100 000 cover.
It is important to carefully choose your cover amount to ensure you are not over- or under- insured.
Theft claims
Temporary repairs
If your items are worth approximately R100 000, but you think only R50 000 is at risk of being stolen – then the usual amount of cover would be R50 000. If you over-insure and take out cover for R200 000, your premium will be higher than what is needed.
If you under-insure and only take out cover for R25 000 then you face the risk of paying for some losses with the profits of your business. The insurance company will only pay up to the amount which you choose as your cover amount, your business will be responsible to pay for any amount above that.
Businesses should change their cover level if their circumstances change. For example, if a business starts keeping more stock on site, it can increase its theft limit.
Generally, the higher the level of risk that your business is exposed to, the higher the cost of the premium.
Yes, a burglar alarm is required to be installed on the premises and to be armed when the property is unoccupied.
If it is found that the alarm system was not operative due to failure of public supply of electricity or another problem which is valid, a claim will still be honoured, so long as failure is not due to any act or omission on the Insureds part.
It is best to submit the claim form as soon as possible after a loss to ensure that there are no delays or issues, some insurers may request reasons as to why there was a delay in claiming if a form is submitted after 30 days from the date of loss.
When it comes to a theft claim, it is important to inform the police as soon as possible.
The obvious factors are your selected sections and amount of cover – more protection means higher premiums. Other major factors include occupation, address and claims history. If other businesses in your occupation or area have had lots of losses in the past, premiums will generally be higher.
If your business has had lots of losses in the past, your premiums will usually be higher. It is very important to be honest when disclosing all of your information – if an insurer finds that you were dishonest, you may not be covered when you have a claim.
