INDUSTRY OBSERVATION

2009: Further symptoms!

THE ULTIMATE TEST for our Claims team is the inevitable “difficult claims in difficult times”! 

The item examples I want to tackle in “difficult claims in difficult times” are the terms:

• Maintenance

• Genuine event

• Negligence

• “Chancing your arm”

Let’s use these case study claims to build our debate. Recently, we paid a claim where the fan belts had broken with a resultant loss because of the consequential damage to the radiator and fan system. Another couple of claim events that we have had are the transmissions “running out of oil”. 

I referred last year to the engine “over-rev” claim we paid. This was the proverbial “down a pass, wrong gear, over- rev” claim. 

The 2009 extension of pot holes is a completely different scenario to anything we’ve ever had before. 

There might be many more types that you would like to send us, but let’s use these. What I would like to do is hypothecate a probability to each claim case. The headings would be description and insurance perspective. 

So what is the deduction? I have subjectively reviewed these case studies with varying speculative ideas. The point is, this is MY perspective! It gets very subjective! 

The quality of the Insurer is going to become very prominent in the near term. Ask yourself how would your Insurer react to these case studies? 

Finally, as a side joke, last year we had holes in our electricity grid. This year the holes are in the roads. 

The BRT project really is interesting. It seems however that my last month’s appeal has fallen on deaf ears! Since reporting last time, however, we have made the effort to enquire whether colleagues or anybody has heard of the developments or have been informed of what is happening! Without fail, everybody shrugs their shoulders and confirms no communication has been heard! 

Because our offices are on Empire road, we have first hand awareness of the mess the construction causes as well as the absolute shambles that the development and construction causes. The pathetic communication means that every robot intersection from Jan Smuts down is a lucky dip when you cross it! 

My wish this month again is that the road development authorities will kindly tell everybody what is going on! 

On a further point in respect of the N3 toll road, if that is the best the N3TC can do, we as the transport consumers are being ripped off (again)! The N3 is very patched and I am talking from my untrained and normal consumer observation! I think, for the fees we pay, the N3 is in a shocking condition!