{"id":858532,"date":"2026-04-28T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=858532"},"modified":"2026-04-28T10:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T08:44:13","slug":"bad-news-about-insurance-premiums-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business-opinion\/858532\/bad-news-about-insurance-premiums-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad news about insurance premiums in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South African businesses and households are facing higher insurance premiums and stricter cover conditions as the risk climate worsens in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the feedback from Dini Nondumo, Head of Commercial Insurance at Standard Bank Insurance, who said the shift has been rapid and far-reaching worldwide, not just in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with Classic Business<\/a>, he noted that South Africa\u2019s risk landscape is changing faster than many realise, and pointed to a combination of climate shocks, ongoing power instability, and a widening protection gap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nondumo explained that this is not just a local issue but part of a broader global trend that has intensified over the past decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the risk climate and approach to risk has really significantly changed, especially over the last 10 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of this has been driven by all the large-scale environmental events that are happening more frequently.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He cited major disasters both locally and internationally\u2014from the KwaZulu-Natal floods and Knysna fires to earthquakes in Turkey and wildfires in Australia and the United States\u2014as evidence of escalating risk exposure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll of these issues are really impacting the risk environment globally, and therefore how we interact with risk as a country, as an insurance business, and of course, to our clients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, insurance is no longer a back-office consideration but a core financial priority. He added that businesses, especially, must integrate risk awareness into their broader strategy if they want to remain viable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nondumo said that a key driver behind rising premiums is the surge in claims linked to extreme weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver the past five years, we\u2019ve really seen an increase in storm, flood, and fire-related claims\u2014very massive increases. Storms alone now account for nearly one in every three property claims that come through,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natural disasters are a major concern <\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
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Dini Nondumo, Head of Commercial Insurance at Standard Bank Insurance<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Standard Bank\u2019s data shows that weather-related claims, such as storms, hail, and floods, in 2024 alone, accounted for 41% of total claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo it really is becoming quite an impactful thing, and it\u2019s a wake-up call, I think, for both insurers and business owners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This growing frequency and severity of claims feed into pricing, pushing premiums higher as insurers adjust to the increased risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also noted that a significant portion of losses in South Africa is uninsured, which is a major structural issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using the KwaZulu-Natal floods as an example, He highlighted that while damages totalled R62.3 billion, less than 50% of those were insured, meaning more than 50% were uninsured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The consequences of this gap are severe, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor a small and medium-sized business owner who\u2019s uninsured, after a catastrophe like that, without the insurance protection, your livelihood has come to an end,\u201d He warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also warned that the impact extends far beyond the business itself, affecting employees and their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just about the business owner\u2019s property, but those 50, 100 to 1,000 mouths that those doors remaining open impact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, the insurance industry is shifting from a reactive model\u2014simply paying claims\u2014to a more proactive, data-driven approach aimed at reducing risk before disasters hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur goal is to make insurance a strategic tool for continuity and foresight, not just for recovery,\u201d Nondumo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes using predictive analytics, satellite data, and risk modelling to guide business decisions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re increasingly leveraging technology to heighten and make our consumers more aware of how that data can help them in future-proofing and protecting their assets,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South African businesses and households are facing higher insurance premiums and stricter cover conditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":858311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[853,499],"class_list":["post-858532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-opinion","tag-south-africa","tag-standard-bank"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858532","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=858532"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":858536,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858532\/revisions\/858536"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=858532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=858532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=858532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}