What is “All Risk” Insurance?

Most people understand that House Contents insurance covers you for fire, storm and theft of your belongings whilst inside your residential property.

When people leave their houses and take belongings with them however, things become a bit vague. This post is to tell you more about how to correctly insure your belongings when you are away from your home.

Your personal insurance policy has a section called “All Risks” for unspecified items and specified items. This section enables you to individually specify items such as camera’s,  jewelry, sporting equipment etc. and also to take blanket cover for clothing and personal effects when you are away from your house. The cover is generally referred to as “All Risks” because it covers you for any type of loss, including water damage, accidental damage or simply leaving an item on a restaurant table or on the roof of your car. The term “All Risks” essentially means that you are covered for any loss, except for what is excluded on your policy, whereas most other insurance classes are “Perils Based” which means that your policy outlines what you are covered for.

All Risks cover can be more expensive than other types of cover, because the cover is so broad and you will claim more frequently under this section than under other sections of your policy.

Generally speaking, we would recommend taking a minimum of R5000 to R10,000 “Clothing and Personal Effects” cover under All Risks, and then also specifying individual items that you would want to claim for if they were lost, stolen or damaged. Clothing and Personal Effects is blanket cover, that will allow you to claim up to a certain value per item, for things like clothing, sunglasses, shoes, bags etc. You cannot claim for laptops, cell phones, tablets, Garmin GPS’s and bicycles under Clothing and Personal Effects. These items need to be specifically specified to have cover, if not specified you will NOT have any cover.

Article by Sanette Strydom