Tag: SHA Specialist Underwriters

The R7.1million claim that was recently filed against Woolworths, after a customer stumbled and fell over a packing crate, once again brings the growing liability risks faced by South African businesses into focus. Personal injury claims are increasing in severity with each passing year. Looking at our own statistics, the average intimated values for personal injury (slip-and-trip) claims have risen from R172,600 to R270,690 between 2016 and 2018.

Recently released statistics has revealed a sharp upsurge in kidnappings in South Africa. This comes while news of the rescue of high-profile kidnapping victim, Sandra Moonsamy, is still fresh in South Africa’s collective memory. Official police statistics show that kidnapping cases have increased by 139 percent over the past decade, with opportunistic abductions accounting for the greatest number of incidents.

The liability risks that South African businesses face as a result of possible product defects, are increasing by orders of magnitude with each passing year, and our Specialist Risk Review has revealed that as many as 21% of businesses have been faced with a product liability claim in the past five years.

Claiming from the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases fund (COID) for workplace injuries is viewed by many business owners as a needlessly difficult and time-consuming process.