Discovery Insure and Auto & General are experiencing a significant increase in claims for damaged appliances and business equipment.
Discovery Insure’s personal lines business has experienced more than a 50% increase in claims for damages caused by power surges. The increased frequency and severity of load shedding is hitting many sectors of the economy hard.
“In June 2022, we received an average of 300 claims a week in the personal lines business,” said Discovery Business Insurance’s COO, Lana Ross.
Auto & General’s head of business insurance, Alex Terblanché, has also seen a significant increase in power surge-related claims over the past few weeks. Those are claims for machinery and other equipment damage when a power surge occurs after load shedding. When businesses lose turnover or sales revenue because of this, insurers have no choice but to compensate them under their business interruption cover.
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Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.