Suffered damages to your vehicle during the riots? Here’s how you can claim from SASRIA

A country like South Africa with its deep-rooted history of riots, demonstrations and politically motivated flair-ups poses a different type of risk compared to more stable countries. The fact is that violent demonstrations can happen at any time. The government acknowledges this and, as a result, it has set-up an insurer that covers this risk. The state-owned insurer SASRIA, or the South African Special Risks Insurance Association, provides cover for vehicles and other property that may be damaged during these sporadic politically-incited riots and demonstrations, that have increasingly risen in prominence in public conversations in the recent past.

What is SASRIA?

SASRIA provides special risk insurance to government institutions, hospitals, schools, private organisations and individuals who own assets within South Africa’s borders. It is the only insurer in the country licensed to provide cover for losses as a result of politically motivated riots, strikes, terrorism, and civil unrest. The special risk insurance provided by SASRIA is voluntary and costs only a small premium for cover (around R2 per month for a privately owned car).

How to submit a claim

SASRIA does not do any direct business with the public, but insurance with SASRIA is likely to be included in your insurance cover. South Africans should check whether their vehicle insurance policy includes SASRIA cover – as some insurers offer this cover as an optional extra. In most instances, this cover is included but a client has the option to opt out and remove this cover.

If you have proof that your car was damaged during civil unrest, you can submit a claim to your insurer who will deal with SASRIA directly.

Here is a practical example - SASRIA cover is included on all MiWay Blink policies, but a client may choose to exclude it. MiWay Blink pays its customers’ SASRIA premiums over to SASRIA each month when collecting their car insurance premiums. This means that all customers who may suffer losses as a result of unrest at any point in the future would have to submit a claim as soon as possible on the MiWay Blink app. 

MiWay Blink will assist with submitting those claims to SASRIA on the client’s behalf. It only takes three simple steps:

Step 1: Submit the claim on the MiWay Blink app.

Step 2: The insurer will conduct the claim assessment and validation process, and settle the claim to get the driver back on the road ASAP. Any evidence the driver has– such as video footage, photos, news reports about the events in the area near to the driver on the specific day – that proves the damage to the car was due to the protests and looting will go far in assisting a driver to successfully claim for the damage or loss.

 Step 3: The insurer submits the claim to SASRIA and recover the costs from them.