BUSINESS NEWS - You’ve heard the grumbles: a colleague pays more to insure his mountain bike than his car.
A relative pays a quarter of her household insurance towards a laptop.
For most people, insurance is a grudge purchase.
And yet, suitable insurance cover is an essential part of any financial plan and is invaluable in mitigating against events that can have dire financial consequences.
In general – using the monthly premium as a percentage of the value of the item as a metric – high value, portable possessions that are more susceptible to accidental damage and theft and that would be expensive to replace are the costliest to insure, says Precious Nduli, head of technical marketing at Discovery Insure.
“Consistently, the top two [most expensive] items are mobile phones and cameras. Everything else pales in comparison.”
According to Discovery Insure, a typical monthly premium for a top of the range new mobile phone selling for between R15 000 and R20 000 can be about R300.
Older or cheaper phones would cost proportionally less, while cameras could attract a premium of around R50 where the retail price is roughly R6 000.
Attie Blaauw, head of underwriting at Santam, says some of the most expensive items to ensure are vehicles, cell phones and laptops.
