VUM Business Lite HelloProtect is a unique insurance product that has been designed to provide cover for small emerging market businesses.
This Policy Wording will explain the following to you:
- What is covered
- What is not covered
- Examples to help explain practical ways in which the cover is applied
This is a plain language document, ensuring that it is easy to read and conveys the details of your policy in the clearest possible way.
Meaning of words used in this Policy Wording
“You or Your” – Refers to the Insured as stated in the Policy Schedule, as well as anyone regarded as agents of the Insured, or anyone who is covered in terms of the Policy.
“We or Us” – Refers to the Insurance Company as stated in the Policy Schedule.
Please read through this Policy Wording together with your Policy Schedule, to make sure you understand the scope of your cover.
Please read through this Policy Wording together with your Policy Schedule, to make sure you understand the scope
of your cover.
A) General Conditions
Territorial Limits
The cover granted by your Policy applies only within the Republic of South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique.
Policy cancellations
You may cancel your Policy at any time and with immediate effect. We may cancel your Policy by giving you 31 days’
notice in writing.
Cooling off period
A cooling off period of 14 days is applicable from the inception date of the policy, which allows sufficient time to familiarize yourself with the terms and conditions of this product. If you decide for any reason that this policy does not meet your requirements, you can cancel this policy in writing within the 14 days period. We will refund any premiums paid before the cancellation notice subject to the deduction of the cost of any risk cover actually enjoyed, provided you have not claimed. However, if you wish to cancel the policy after the 14-day cooling off period, you will only be entitled to a pro-rata refund of the premium.
Policy changes
You may make changes to your Policy at any time. Any change you make will be effective from the time and date agreed to. We may change your Policy by giving you 31 days’ notice in writing.
Duty to disclose material information
We base the limit of compensation, the premium, and the other terms, conditions and exclusions in this policy on the information that you give to us. You have the following disclosure obligations:
a) To give us all material information. Material information is information that a reasonable person would consider you should have given to us so that we can assess your risk;
If you do not fulfil all the obligations above, we may do one or more of the following:
- Cancel your policy;
- Not accept your claim;
- Void your policy (treat it as null and void)
- Recover any compensation we have given for previous claims
Your responsibilities
- In order to have cover you need to give us true and complete information when you apply for cover, submit a claim or make changes to your Policy. This also applies when anyone else acts on your behalf.
- You must inform us immediately of any changes to your circumstances that may influence whether we give you cover, the conditions of cover or the premium we charge, for example you must inform us of the following :
- Any changes to any information on your Policy Schedule; this included but is not limited to :
- Any changes in the Stated Business Activity.
- Contact Details and Business Address.
- Any changes to your financial position, or that of any member, partner or director, specifically relating to defaults, civil judgements, administration orders, sequestrations, liquidations and solvency of companies in which you have an interest
- You must ensure that your employees, members, partners, directors and any tenants at the insured premises comply with the terms and conditions of this policy.
- You must take all reasonable steps to :
- Prevent or minimise accidents, bodily injury, illness, loss, or damage.
- Safeguard the insured property to the best of your abilities and maintain it in good condition and repair
B) Claim Conditions
- We have the choice to settle your claim in any of the following ways :
- Paying out cash to you
- Repairing the damage at a repairer of our choice
- Replacing the item at a supplier of our choice
- Any combination of the above
- We will not indemnify you for the inconvenience it causes you or money you lose or for any liability you may incur where the unavailability of parts causes a delay on the repair process.
- Where any item claimed for is financed, we will first pay the finance company.
- Where a claim is settled for lost or damaged items, these items become ours.
- You need to report your claim or any incident that might lead to a claim to us as soon as possible, but not later than 30 days, after any incident. This includes incidents for which you do not want to claim but which may result in a claim in the future.
- You need to report any lost items, fire, theft, attempted theft or damage caused intentionally to the police within 24 hours of you becoming aware of the incident.
- You must take preventative action following an incident to prevent or minimise future loss, damage, injury or liability.
- You need to give all information and documentation we require within the time frame we set. This information must be true and complete, as any information which is misleading, incomplete or false will prejudice the claims process.
- You need to provide proof of ownership and value of any item that you are claiming for.
- You must make damaged items which you are claiming for available for inspection in order to substantiate the extent and nature of the damage.
- Before doing any non-emergency repairs you must first get our approval.
- You must never admit guilt nor offer settlement to any other party involved in an incident in which you are involved. We will not be bound by any admission or offer you make to any person in relation to any incident.
- You need to comply with our reasonable instructions and requests. For example, after we have settled your claim for your stolen item, we may need your assistance in identifying it should the police recover it.
- The Excess is the amount you contribute for each and every claim and is noted in your Policy Schedule. You still need to pay the Excess even though you did not cause the loss.
- Dual Insurance – if there are any other insurance policies giving the same cover as in this policy we will pay our pro-rata portion of any claim. This does not apply to Personal Accident cover.
- When you submit a claim, we can act on your rights or obligations against other people to recover costs or to defend any claim they may have against you. This principle is called subrogation.
- If you dispute the outcome of your claim you have 90 days from the day you are first informed of the outcome to notify us about your objection. Immediately following this, you have a further 180 days in which to serve a summons on us, failing which your right to challenge the decision is forfeited.
- If you or anyone acting on your behalf submits a claim, or any information or documentation relating to any claim that is in any way fraudulent, dishonest or inflated, we will reject that entire claim and cancel your policy retrospectively to the reported incident date or the actual incident date, whichever date is earliest. You will also be required to reimburse us for any expenses we incur relating to the claim.
- In addition to the terms and conditions in this policy, you are required to abide by all laws and by-laws of the legal jurisdiction in which you find yourself. For example, if you are required by law to have fire-fighting equipment in your place of business, this policy will require the same from you.
- This Policy is regulated by the law and is subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of South Africa. Compensation is excluded for
C) What is NOT covered by the policy
This policy does not cover any loss, damage, liability or injury directly or indirectly arising from any of the following :
- War and public disorder
- War or war-like acts
- Military uprisings, usurped power, rebellion or revolution
- Civil commotion, labour disturbances or public disorder
- Any act of terrorism by any person or group, whether acting alone or under instruction
- Confiscated property – Property that has been legally retained or confiscated
- Pollution, contamination, radioactive material, nuclear material or nuclear waste
- There is no cover where the damage or loss is due to construction, alteration or repairs, defective workmanship, defective materials or lack of maintenance
- Wear-and-tear and breakdown :
- – Any cause that was not sudden and unforeseen
- – Gradual deterioration, including rising damp, wear-and-tear, rust, mildew or fading
- – Mechanical, electrical or electronic breakdown, defect or failure
- – Damage to consumable parts or parts with a limited lifespan
- – Damage recoverable under any maintenance or lease agreement
- – Servicing, maintenance, cleaning, repairing, restoring, dyeing, bleaching or alteration
- Contracts :
- – Breach of contract
- – Liability arising from a contract, unless you would have had the same liability had you not entered into the contract
- Selling your possessions – When selling your possessions, you need to have prior confirmation by your bank that valid and legal payment for the sale has been made before giving the property to the other person to avoid the use of fraudulent cheques or counterfeit money
- There is no cover for any Motor Vehicles of any kind.
- Pawned items – Any pawned items, whether you pawned them, or you hold them on someone else’s behalf
- Consequential loss – Any consequential loss or damage not directly caused by an insured peril unless specifically noted
- Illegal activities – The use of the insured property for, or in connection with, the commission of any offence. This includes any incident relating to obtaining, using or soliciting narcotics
- There is no cover if the loss occurs outside the period of insurance as stated in your Policy Schedule
- Theft and malicious damage caused by you, any members, partners, directors or employees
- Rot, rising damp, a rise in the water table except as a result of a storm
- Fungus, mould, infestation, insects, rodents or vermin
STOCK & CONTENTS
What you need to know about this Cover :
- STOCK – Stock refers to stock in trade used for your Stated Business Activity, including raw materials, finished goods, and goods being manufactured
- CONTENTS – Contents refers to any movable items that are used at your place of business such as desks, chairs and cupboards.
- LIMIT – The amount that can be paid out for any one claim is limited to the Sum Insured as noted in your Policy Schedule, minus any Excess (First Amount Payable). Theft is limited to 10 % of the Sum Insured.
- LOCATION – The Stock or Contents that are insured are only insured at the address that has been noted as your business address on your Policy Schedule. If you take any Stock or Contents away from the business address, they will not be insured until it they returned to the business address.
- COVER – This Cover insures you for loss or damage that is the result of :
- Fire and or explosions
- Acts of nature such as floods, storms, wind, lightning or hail
- An act of any malicious person. This is known as Malicious Damage Cover
- Impact, for example from a vehicle, tree or aircraft
- Theft, up to a limit of 10% of the Sum Insured
What is NOT covered under STOCK AND CONTENTS :
- Malicious Damage caused by you, someone associated with your business or one of your family members
- Accidental Damage
- Theft if there is no physical, forced or visible entry into and/or exit from such building
- Geyser bursts or leakages, as well as the damage caused by this
- Damage caused by gradual deterioration, wear and tear, vermin or other rodents
- Damage while performing maintenance whether by you or a contractor
- Damage to the building, fittings and fixtures
- Money or other negotiable instruments
- Livestock
- Electronic Equipment and Machinery such as computers, appliances, fridges, generators and till points
- Theft of or Damage to any Stock or Contents left outside of a building
- Theft of or Damage to any Stock or Contents while being transported
- Theft of or Damage to any Stock or Contents that are not consistent with your Stated Business Activity
- Matching materials – Any additional costs resulting from the unavailability of matching or paired up Contents
- When the building is unoccupied for more than 60 consecutive days
