The claims handling process of property insurance in South Africa

Abstract

Property insurance is the second largest class of short-term insurance in South Africa. As South Africa is a developing country and has an emerging market economy, the conclusions of this paper, which are based on a literature study and an empirical survey, should accordingly also be valuable to short-term insurers in other countries with emerging market economies. The objective of this research paper endeavors to improve financial decision-making relating to the claims handling process of property insurance. It therefore focuses on the insurance of buildings, the contents of buildings, as well as all-risks insurance. After paying attention to the main factors, necessary to contemplate in the claims handling process of each of the three types of subject matter, the applicable problem areas and the effectiveness of the short-term insurers who participate in the empirical survey, are addressed.