Crime a huge insurance risk to those living in Gauteng!
Crime is one of the most important factors contributing to escalating insurance premiums. It affects every part of insurance – including vehicle, business, home and life insurance!
Insurance companies analyze the police stats on crime and also the claims received to establish trends and create risk profiles. The area where you live and the crime in that area are important elements to be considered in calculating insurance premiums payable.
On the Car Insurance Blog we have focused on this topic in a post titled “How much does my home address affect my car insurance premium?”
It appears from the latest feedback from the Police that residents in Gauteng are far more at risk than those living in other parts of South Africa.
Police reveals Gauteng as a High Risk Area
“Gauteng is exactly 50 percent of South Africa’s crime stats. The other provinces make up the other 50 percent,” Cele told a parliamentary portfolio committee on police.
“The stats say that Gauteng is the home of crime.”
This made Gauteng a top priority province in terms of resources and the building of police stations.
He said it was disturbing that while the province had 100 townships and more than 200 informal settlements, only 50 of its 135 police stations were situated in the townships and informal settlements.
“(We) need to have police stations mushrooming everywhere in Gauteng. To deal with crime, we have to deal with Gauteng,” Cele said.
He said duty corps in the provinces would be maintained and more would be built. These would be scaled down in “quieter” cities like Cape Town and Durban.
“Because in Gauteng if you go down a little, crime goes up the next day. In Gauteng, police stations must be forever there.”
Cele was responding to criticism from committee members on wasting of funds and vacant police stations in some provinces. [Info from SAPA]
Conclusion
High crime rates contribute to higher car insurance, household, home and business insurance for all who live in the area. In these challenging economic climate it remains of the utmost importance to be well covered from the perils of crime – and even more important to pay attention to your security requirements.
On Insurance Chat we would like to discuss these requirements and pay close attention to policy requirements. With the correct insurance you might be able to avoid unnecessary losses and insurance frustrations!
