What is SASRIA cover? Why has it become more critical than ever for any company to have SASRIA insurance in place?

In the current climate of uncertainty and volatility due to the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying lockdowns, SASRIA cover must be in place to limit the potential damage to companies defensively. 

SASRIA, short for the South African Special Risks Insurance Association, is a state-owned company formed in 1979. It provides cover against special risks such as civil commotion, politically-motivated acts, public disorder, strikes, riots, and terrorism restricted to South Africa. 

Our country is experiencing a rise in riots and looting. If your property gets damaged because of the perils covered by SASRIA, it is crucial to understand that generic insurance policies do not cover this damage. Therefore, if you do not have a SASRIA extension on the policy, your claim will be rejected.

It is essential during this time that individuals and businesses ensure that they are sufficiently insured.

As mentioned above, SASRIA cover is not impacted directly by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the indirect impact can be dire if adequate insurance cover is not in place.

The SASRIA policy wording will cover you for:

“Loss of or damage to the property insured directly related to or caused by: 

• any act (whether on behalf of any organisation, body or person, or group of persons) calculated or directed to overthrow or influence any State or Government, or any provincial, local or tribal authority with force, or by means of fear, terrorism or violence; 
• any act which is calculated or directed to bring about loss or damage in order to further any political aim, objective or cause, or to bring about any social or economic change, or in protest against any State or Government, or any provincial, local or tribal authority, or for the purpose of inspiring fear in the public, or any section thereof; 
• any riot, strike or public disorder, or any act or activity which is calculated or directed to bring about a riot, strike or public disorder; 
• any attempt to perform any act referred to in clause (i), (ii) or (iii) above; 
• the act of any lawfully established authority in controlling, preventing, suppressing or in any other way dealing with any occurrence referred to in clause (i), (ii),(iii) or (iv) above. NOTE: In this Policy, the term “Public Disorder” shall be deemed to include civil commotion, labour disturbances or lockouts;.”

Important clarification on the terms used in the above wording

”a. Riot 

In the case of Sasria vs. Elwyn Investments (Pty) Ltd, no clear definition of a riot was given by the learned judges; however some very important guidelines were revealed. Essentially, the courts had to decide whether the word riot should be given a legal meaning or its ordinary dictionary meaning. It was decided that in interpreting the word ‘riot’ and in accordance with this case, the English law is not to be used; the various dictionary definitions are too wide; the ordinary meaning of the word ‘riot’ should be adopted, i.e. what does the insurer and the layman perceive as being a riot Whilst the learned judges did not give a precise definition of riot, it is clear from the judgment that the following pointers should be used: 

1. The perception of the ‘man on the street’ 

2. A large number of people acting unlawfully 

3. Violence or threats of violence to any person 

4. Disturbance of the public peace by violence 

5. Tumult and strife Sasria 

b. Strike and Lockout 

A Strike is defined as a period of time when an organised group of employees of a company of a company stops working because of a disagreement over pay or working conditions. A Lockout is a situation when an employer refuses to allow workers into their place of work until they agree to various conditions. Where a strike exists or a lockout exists, ‘damage’ caused during the time of a strike or lockout will be covered by Sasria. A strike, for the purposes of the Sasria peril may be legal or illegal and may also constitute a go-slow strike. 

c. Public Disorder 

Sasria provides cover for Public Disorder. 

In the policy Public Disorder shall be deemed to include civil commotion, labour disturbance and lockout. There is no common law definition of what would constitute a public disorder, public disorder is deemed by the Sasria policy to include civil commotion. Civil commotion has been judicially defined and since civil commotion is deemed to be included within the words’ public disorder’, public disorder should be interpreted iusdem generis, or of the same like or manner as civil commotion. Civil commotion can be defined as an outbreak of lawlessness of a fairly considerable scale amongst the citizens of a state, and is interpreted by the courts to mean something between a riot and total insurrection. By implication, public disorder is something of a greater nature than civil commotion. Public disorder, therefore, should be taken to mean an outbreak of lawlessness amongst the citizens of a state, and is something of a greater degree than riot and of a lesser degree than anarchy. 

d. Labour disturbance 

The courts have stated that labour disturbance can therefore be interpreted to mean, in essence, a riot in the workplace. Where the workers therefore cause damage to the workplace in a riotous type of situation, this damage will be covered by Sasria.”

So, if your vehicle or any other assets or belongings are damaged due to the above, you can claim from SASRIA if you have purchased SASRIA cover in the form of a policy or coupon.

Please note that your insurer or underwriter who administrates the SASRIA product is a separate entity. 

The insurer or underwriter must comply with the various requirements from SASRIA. One of the requirements is to validate the merits of the loss before sending the assessment details to SASRIA for consideration.

Notification of your claim 

1) All claims must be reported immediately within 30 days to your insurer administering SASRIA.

2) SASRIA will be notified of a claim via the insurer.

What will a claims handler at the insurer or underwriter do with your claim before it goes to SASRIA?

1. A claims handler will validate your claim before presenting the findings to SASRIA. The requirements to validate claims will differ from claim to claim. The claims handler will request the following documentation from you: A claim form, a copy of your SASRIA policy or coupon, a full copy of the underlying policy, quantum documents (such as quotes and invoices) and proof of premium payment.
2. Depending on the quantum of the claim, the claims handler may appoint an assessor or investigator to assist with the validation process as required by SASRIA. As a general guideline, claims exceeding R10 000 will require an assessor to be appointed. Above R250 000, the assistance of a loss adjuster will be necessary and quantifying the loss is critical to SASRIA.
3. SASRIA will appoint an independent loss adjuster on all claims exceeding R1 million.  
4. Any property lost or damaged will become the property of SASRIA. The adjuster or assessor will determine if there is any salvage that belongs to SASRIA. You are responsible for all damaged property until SASRIA has taken possession of it.
5. Presentation of all the findings may take time as the inspections and reports from the assessor, adjuster or anyone appointed by SASRIA must first be completed.
6. SASRIA may further validate and request additional supporting documents and conduct investigations. 
7. Once the claims handler received feedback from SASRIA, you will be informed of the claim’s outcome by your insurer or underwriter.
8. SASRIA will notify your insurer of their decision or require further information within five to seven days of presenting the findings. The time is an estimate and can change depending on SASRIA’s workload. 
9. Once the insurer receives feedback from SASRIA on the outcome of the claim (settlement or rejection), the claims handler will contact your broker to advise the result. 
10. SASRIA finalises payment of valid claims within three to four days from the authorisation date.

What can you do as the insured to increase your chances of claiming successfully?

1. You must pay the premiums in advance, and payments must be entirely up to date.
2. Make sure you have correctly insured the value of your items as SASRIA may apply average.
3. Report the matter to the nearest police station and obtain a case number.
4. Complete the claim form truthfully and in full, dated, signed with a comprehensive and detailed description of the circumstances surrounding the incident. A detailed and clear statement from the driver must accompany the claim form.
5. Give your full co-operation to the assessor, loss adjustor, or investigator appointed.
6. Take all reasonable precautions to prevent loss or damage.
7. Do nothing that will prejudice or limit the rights of SASRIA.
8. For commercial claims, it is imperative to acquire stock records of purchases and sales.
9. Under no circumstances may you carry out any repairs without first obtaining permission from SASRIA. 
10. Provide recorded cell phone footage of the incident if safe to do so.
11. Take photos of the incident as soon as possible when safe to do so and from various angles as it can be beneficial in the validation process of a claim.
12. Do not withhold information or commit fraud.
13. Collect any news published by the media or in local news related to your incident and submit it with your claim as it provides valuable circumstantial evidence.
14. Transport operators can keep a log of intimidation incidents, recording time, date, place, and instigator. 
15. Collect any whispers or suspicions of issues in the area noted in the log as well.
16. Confidential written statements could also be obtained from the conductor and driver at the time or any passenger if they are willing.

Other things that SASRIA expect of you:

1. You will have to sign any document or affidavit that SASRIA requests to exercise their rights
2. You may have to attend depositions, hearings, trials and give evidence if necessary.
3. You may not make any admission, offer, promise, payment, or statement about SASRIA’s liability without our written consent. 

Suppose you are not satisfied with the settlement amount or SASRIA has rejected your claim; what can you do?

• Ask your insurance broker to provide you with the correct advice when disputing a SASRIA claim. These matters can get technical and very tricky.
• Suppose you are disputing the amount of compensation payable by SASRIA, the matter may be referred to arbitration in South Africa at a place and time SASRIA will determine.
• When SASRIA has rejected your claim, you can dispute the decision within 90 days from the date of receipt of their rejection letter by written representations. SASRIA will then, within 45 days of receipt of your representation, send a written notice to you of their final decision whether to accept, reject or dispute the quantum of your claim. Immediately after the 90 days, irrespective of whether you made representations, as a policyholder, you have a further six months within which to serve a summons on SASRIA. If the summons is not served within this period, then you will forfeit the right to challenge the decision.  
• If you dispute the rejection, you may at any time until the forfeiture date lodge a claim under the Financial Services Ombud Scheme Act, 2004.  

· The Ombudsman for Short-term Insurance if your claim is within jurisdictional limits (www.osti.co.za/lodge a complaint). 

· If your claim is outside the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman for Short-term Insurance, you may complain with the FAIS Ombud (www.faisombud.co.za/how to complain). 

The writer directly quoted the extract of the SASRIA wording and explanation of terms and definitions from SASRIA’s training manual.