Insurers won’t reject claims if driver’s licence not renewed
Car insurers say they will not reject claims if a driver’s licence is not renewed. A driver’s licence does not expire, only the card does, provided you had a valid driver’s licence to start with.
The grace period for renewing driver’s licence cards expired today and many drivers who battled to renew their cards are worried that their insurers will not accept their claims if they are involved in an accident.
Luckily, this is the one thing you do not have to worry about.
According to Thabo Manamela, head of quality and knowledge management at Santam, the company has acknowledged the concern among policyholders about their cover should they have a valid vehicle claim while in possession of an expired driver’s licence card.
“Santam wants to clarify that the driver’s licence does not expire, only the card which requires renewal every five years does. The delay of the authorities in issuing a driver’s licence card does not mean that the driver is unlicenced and therefore Santam will not summarily penalise clients for the challenges faced by the department.”
However, Santam advised policyholders to still take reasonable steps to ensure they apply for the renewal of their licence cards before it expires. Santam will accept proof, such as the receipt or temporary driver’s licence during claims until the challenges that are facing the department are resolved.
Ricardo Coetzee, head of Auto & General Insurance, said if the customer does not have a valid driver’s licence at the time of the loss due to a purely administrative process that is beyond the control of the customer the expired licence will not affect a claim.
“We look at risk when assessing a claim and an administrative delay does not increase or decrease your risk in operating a vehicle,” he said.
Francois Theron, deputy chief executive of Discovery Insure, said drivers and vehicle owners will be recognised as legally licensed should they need to claim, provided they have a valid, albeit expired, licence.
“We have encouraged our clients to plan around delays and renew their licences as early as possible,” he said.
Wynand van Vuuren, King Price’s client experience partner, also said that an expired driver’s licence due to renewal backlog will not affect a claim.
“The important issue to be aware of is the principle of ‘causal link’, which means the reason for a claim rejection must be directly linked to the cause of the accident or loss.”
All insurance policies, for example, state that your vehicle must always be in a roadworthy condition. However, if your car tyres are worn and someone drives into your car while it is stationary, an insurer cannot reject your claim, as there was no causal link between the worn tyres and the accident.
“By the same token, if your licence disk has expired and an accident occurs or your vehicle is stolen, insurers will have to pay those claims, as the licence would not be material to the incident. Just make sure the vehicle is always roadworthy and there are no additional factors that can cause or contribute to an accident.”
Rudolf Britz, chief actuary at Momentum Insure, said in instances involving expired or invalid driving licences, each claim will be assessed based on its own merits and the materiality of driving with an expired licence.
Hollard Insure has also decided to further extend its claims grace period to renew expired licences to 30 September but said this extension does not nullify the requirement for licences to be renewed.