Insurance companies brace for fire claims

WITH at least 15 houses damaged by the fires sweeping the southern Cape Peninsula – and three destroyed – insurance companies are bracing themselves for a slew of claims.

Donald Kau, head of corporate affairs at Santam, said property owners should ensure policies were up to date, and work with their brokers.

He advised homeowners to check their insurance policies annually and ensure that the household contents sum was in line with the current replacement value of goods.

Kau said a significant challenge for intermediaries in the immediate aftermath of fires was working with clients to ensure the accurate assessment of the replacement costs of building, contents, vehicles and other lost goods.

John Melville, head of risk services at Sanlam, said the firm has placed a bigger focus on fire management over the past five years.

“Fire, and the damage it causes, is on enormous concern to us. It is one of the factors that has a direct impact on the sustainability of the shortterm insurance industry. The challenge lies in forming cooperative partnerships with local government, regulators and communities.”

Rainy weather might have helped slow the fires in the southern suburbs of Cape Town, but it ironically caused a new fire in the Cape Point Nature Reserve yesterday.

A blaze set in thick bush by lightning from the rain had firefighters from SANParks scrambling.

It threatened to cause havoc in the reserve, which had not been exposed to the fire that had ravaged the Table Mountain National Park this week.

“The fire was started by lightning,” SANParks fire manager Philip Prins said. “We haven’t contained it yet, but it is not spreading too fast.”

Flames continued to rage in Pearly Beach yesterday. At about 5pm, fire chief Reinhard Geldenhuys said the fire was out of control.