Six-fold leap in insurance claims as trucks torched across the country

Insurance claims linked to violence against trucking companies have risen more than six-fold in the first part of the year compared to a year ago.

Claims lodged by trucking companies insured with Hollard totalled R4.2m between December 2017 and May 2018, but increased to R27m in the same period ending May 2019.

Elka du Piesanie, a bureau operations manager at Hollard, released figures for the six-month period, which showed that the insurer was dealing with higher claims in monetary terms related to damage caused by violence during public protests.

Du Piesanie was addressing a media briefing in Pretoria this week on the escalation of attacks on trucks in the past year. She said between last November and May this year, Hollard, which insures 16,500 trucks, received R237m in claims.

Out of the 5,030 claims during this period, 52 related to damage incurred during protest action, which constituted 11% of all claims during the period. The 52 claims amounted to R27.3m out of the total R237m.

For the same period a year before, Hollard said it received R197m in claims. Of the 5,285 claims during that period, 36 related to damage incurred during protest action, which constituted only 1% of all claims during the period. These 36 claims amounted to R4.2m out of the total R193m claimed from Hollard during that period.