The on-going energy crisis in South Africa which has resulted in continuing power outages across the country, has left many highly frustrated due to the major disruptions to businesses, households and traffic taking place.

The on-going energy crisis in South Africa which has resulted in continuing power outages across the country, has left many highly frustrated due to the major disruptions to businesses, households and traffic taking place. However, with recent annual crime statistics being released by the South African Police Service (SAPS) which paints a grim picture, it is security concerns and how it will affect your insurance cover that take the ‘main space’ in these times.

According to Lizette Erasmus, Head of Insurance Expertise at IntegriSure, an overall 10% increase has been seen in the trio crimes (Carjacking, Residential robbery and general robbery). On a broader scale, over the last five years, trio crimes have increased by 4%, and a massive 95.3 percent% over the past ten years. “The ongoing load shedding provides ample opportunity to criminals to strike while various security systems and protection devices are compromised,” says Erasmus. “Many people also don’t realise that most alarms have a battery back-up, so we urge people to attempt to arm their security systems even when the power is down.” Erasmus also advises that, in some cases, insurance companies will check the records on these systems after a robbery claim is made, and if no attempt to arm the system is recorded this can affect the claim.

“Other costly consequences of load shedding include damages to appliances and electronics due to power spikes and surges when electricity supply is turned back on, which has become very costly for those without insurance cover for these items,” continues Erasmus. “There has also been a major increase in residents and businesses opting to install generators, which poses a wide range of risks as well as most people have limited working knowledge of how this equipment works and should be managed.” Erasmus warns that it is of the utmost importance that the services of reputable and registered installers are used when installing generators, as bad workmanship or self-installation can often result in claims being denied by insurance firms, should any damage be incurred.