Loadshedding has become a part of the daily lives of South Africans all over the country. In 2022, we had 960 hours of national loadshedding and recently reached stage 6, further increasing outages. With increased loadshedding comes a bigger chance of electrical faults that lead to power surges, overloading and shorting electrical appliances.

In the last six months alone, there has been a rise of over 50% in power surge claims because of the increased loadshedding frequency and severity. In June 2022, one insurance company had an average of over 300 claims a week.

Here are a few tips to reduce the risks of electrical faults and prevent damage to your home contents:

• Unplug appliances when the power goes out. Power surges usually occur when the power comes back on.
• Invest in a surge protector for the distribution board (which should be installed by a certified electrician) and surge protector plug adaptors.
• Buy a power strip with a built-in surge protector. Clients can protect their appliances by simply plugging them in to the power strip.

Those who are on Discovery Insure are covered for power surge damage – however, they can also take up the accidental damage buy-up benefit, to get additional power surge cover:

• Essential Plan: Up to 10% of the sum insured for each claim
• Classic Plan: 20% or 100% of the sum insured as selected by the client and stated in the Plan Schedule.

These claims can be submitted through on the Discovery app and website or by their advisor.

For more information on various insurance options for power surge damage, feel free to contact us at: info@finbofs.com