{"id":819455,"date":"2025-04-18T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=819455"},"modified":"2025-04-18T06:28:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T04:28:27","slug":"crime-warning-for-south-african-households","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/property\/819455\/crime-warning-for-south-african-households\/","title":{"rendered":"Crime warning for South African households"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Insurance experts have warned South African households to ensure their insurance policies are up to date. The Easter holiday is a prime period for criminals to take advantage of empty homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Easter is approaching, and most people will travel during this period. Before they leave, households must ensure they have the right cover to protect their belongings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the advice from Infiniti Insurance, which highlighted that robberies and burglaries are rising in South Africa, and criminals planning to take advantage of the holiday season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Amidst the increasing tide of house robberies and burglaries sweeping across the country, reviewing and updating your household contents insurance has become an absolute necessity for all households,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest Statistic SA Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey 2023\/2024 paints a grim picture, revealing housebreaking and burglary as the most frequently reported crimes plaguing South African households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey’s findings show an alarming increase in burglaries and robberies, with a 4.6% and 7.2% rise, respectively, from 2022\/23 to 2023\/24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even more concerning is the steady upward trajectory of households falling victim to these crimes since 2021\/22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pervasive nature of the risk is highlighted by the fact that home robbery was the second most common crime experienced by households in the five years preceding the survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the latest crime stats from the South African Police Service (SAPS) show a slight year-on-year decline, burglaries and robberies at residential premises in South Africa remain alarmingly high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data shows that 35,754 home burglaries were recorded between October and December 2024, translating to an average of 397 break-ins per day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House robberies\u2014where criminals confront homeowners directly\u2014are less common but still concerning, with 6,259 cases recorded in the same period, or 70 per day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make sure your valuables are covered<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Infiniti Insurance CEO Sharon Paterson<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In light of these statistics, Sharon Paterson, CEO of Infiniti Insurance, stressed the importance of covering household contents to safeguard against the financial fallout of burglary or house robbery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This cover acts as a safety net, protecting you against damages or losses to the contents of your residence,” she explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Essentially, everything you’d take with you when moving to a new home is covered by the household content policy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She advises homeowners or tenants to review and update their policies annually or whenever they buy new, valuable items like furniture or appliances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They must also ensure that their contents are insured for their correct value. Your content should be covered for the estimated replacement cost, which is the cost of buying a similar new item.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“However, it’s important to note that most insurance policies will only pay the replacement cost in proportion to the insured amount,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paterson further explained that clients must note that many factors influence the cost of household content insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These factors include location-specific elements like natural disasters, crime rates, the areas in which the property is located, and the claims volume. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe size of your home and the desired level of coverage also play a significant role in determining the final cost. The value of your belongings is another key factor affecting premiums.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For particularly valuable items, insurers may require them to be specified on the policy and may request a valuation certificate to ascertain their worth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said that implementing safety measures to mitigate the risk of loss can be an effective way to reduce home insurance premiums. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many insurers also offer discounts for installing monitored burglar alarm systems, fire alarms or smoke detectors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bundling home and auto insurance with the same provider can also lead to substantial savings. Additionally, Paterson emphasises the importance of thoroughly reading and understanding your insurance policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Your insurance policy is the blueprint that outlines what is and isn’t covered in the event of a burglary or theft. Familiarise yourself with its terms to avoid any unpleasant surprises.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Insurance experts have sent a warning to homeowners and tenants looking to travel over the Easter long-weekend. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":811765,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12755],"tags":[22205,853,17501],"class_list":["post-819455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property","tag-infiniti-insurance","tag-south-africa","tag-the-south-african-police-service-saps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=819455"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":820438,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819455\/revisions\/820438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=819455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=819455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=819455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}