Source: Santam 5 October 2018
PERSONAL INSURANCE POLICY – ALL RISK SECTION
CLOTHING AND PERSONAL EFFECTS
We cover loss of or damage to your clothing and personal effects. Our compensation is limited to the amount shown in your policy summary. The item limit shown in your policy summary is the maximum amount we will pay for any one article, pair or set.
Clothing and personal effects means:
a. clothing you normally wear;
b. personal effects normally carried on or worn by a person;
c. personal sporting equipment normally used or worn by a person;
d. baby equipment, like prams and children’s car seats; and
e. wheelchairs.
However, we do not cover:
a. mobile communication devices (like cellular phones or satellite navigation equipment);
b. computer equipment and accessories (like laptops, personal computers, e-readers or tablet computers);
c. collections and personal documents (like stamp, medal and coin collections or personal documents);
d. keys, access cards and remote control units;
e. bicycles;
f. washing on the washing line on your premises;
g. gardening equipment controlled by a driver and all tools, spare parts and accessories therein, thereon or attached thereto;
h. surfboards, kite boards, paddle skis, kayaks, canoes, surf skis, windsurf boards and sailboards; and
i. any property more specifically insured.
The following items, being controversial in nature, are also covered under the basic cover “Clothing and Personal Effects”:
• Towels
• Sleeping bags, blankets or pillows
• Certain type of tents can be used by a person as sporting equipment during a sport such as hiking and mountaineering expeditions. Therefore equipment such as tents and other associated equipment, which could typically be carried and/or used during these type of sporting activities, would fall within the meaning of personal sporting equipment normally worn or used by a person.
• Take note that camping is NOT a sport and therefore distinction should be drawn between equipment associated with such recreational activities and sporting activities. Further, it must be noted that it is NOT a prerequisite for sporting equipment to be covered only when used during the specific sporting activity.
• Dentures, contact lenses and hearing aids
• Medication of any form e.g. pills/tablets, medicine etc. Being a consumable, we will only be liable for that portion of the medication that has not already been consumed. Therefore, during the settlement of a claim only a percentage of the replacement value of the specific item will be payable, which represents that portion not already consumed.
• Items of an audiovisual nature such as portable radios, cd-players, MP3/4 players, I -pods etc. would fall within the description of “clothing and personal effects.” Underwriters have also made the concession to entertain the iPod dock as “clothing and personal effects,” should it be carried / kept with the iPod itself at the time of the loss or damage.
The following are not covered under the heading “Clothing and Personal Effects”:
• Clothing and personal effects which are not normally worn or carried by or on a person.
• Personal sporting equipment which are not normally worn or used by a person e.g. a dart board
• Smart watches, like the Apple watch or the Samsung Gear watch which work in conjunction with a cellphone or other device, may be classified as a watch and would therefore be payable under clothing and personal effects. It is important to note that some of these smart watches are fitted with a sim card and would be classified as a communication device, and must therefore be specified as such.
IMPORTANT:
The fact that a doctor has a stethoscope around his neck every day, or a musician carries around his guitar, does not qualify these items as personal effects normally carried on or worn by a person. Items like these should be specified as it is specialised equipment that would not be carried or worn by the average person. The specific profile of the person should therefore not be considered when determining whether an item falls within the description of clothing and personal effects.
PAIRS OR SETS CLAUSE:
PAIRS OR SETS
“If an article that is lost or damaged was part of a pair or a set, we will not compensate you for more than the article’s value proportionate to the total value of the pair or set.”
Please note that the wording stipulates that we will not pay more for the article than its proportionate value. The value must not be confused with the insured amount.
If, for example, a set of earrings valued at R14 000 is specified for R8 000, and one of the earrings gets lost, the proportionate value we are liable for is R7 000 and not R14 000, because the latter amount does not represent the proportionate value of the earring, but the proportionate insured amount of such earring.
If the set of earrings in the above example is valued at R20 000, the proportionate value of one earring is R10 000 and we will be liable to pay for the lost earring up to the insured amount of R8 000.
IMPORTANT!
This clause permits the underwriter to only pay for the part only of a pair or set of items lost or damaged, leaving the insured with the now useless odd pair or set.
The objective of indemnity cannot be served if the item cannot be replaced with an identical item – in cases where it is not possible the remaining item should be taken (insured amount permitting) and sold as salvage. Settlement should then be offered for a set or pair.
Example: A person has a set/pair of hearing aids and one is lost or damaged. A similar item is available, but does not look the same/does not have same functions/cannot communicate with the other item etc. In this case, indemnification will only be proper when both hearing aids are included in settlement (insured amount permitting). In this scenario, it is important to note that hearing aids will be covered under the general cover as clothing and personal effects, but due to the high cost of these devices they are normally specified.
