Planning Your Holiday

Before leaving for your annual holiday make sure that your insurance cover is adequate to cover all your belongings that you are taking with you on holiday. You will be removing many of your valuable items that are covered under your household contents insurance but you must remember that this insurance covers a large percentage of these goods only at the premises noted on your policy.

Items that during the year will normally remain in your house such as binoculars, scuba diving equipment, cameras, your family's clothing, your television set if you plan on going camping in luxury, will not be covered under your household contents once you remove them from your residential premises.

It is advisable to purchase additional all risks cover on your household contents policy prior to leaving on holiday. This will avoid finding yourself in a situation where, if you are unfortunate enough to become a victim of an accident, robbery or carjacking, your losses are not covered by your insurance policy.

It is well worth the effort and money to specify all the items you intend taking with you on holiday and purchasing all risks cover for these items on your existing household contents policy. Most household contents policies do provide limited all risks cover but for holiday purposes this would usually prove to be insufficient.

Another more expensive alternative is to purchase travel insurance for the period that you will be away. This could be considered if you do not have an existing household contents insurance policy.

Instead, it is far more effective, and cheaper in the long run, to take the time to specify those items that you are likely to travel with on your existing all risks policy.

If you are planning to drive to neighbouring counties for your vacation it is advisable to determine whether your current car insurance applies outside of the borders of the Republic of South Africa. Some car insurance policies restrict vehicle recovery costs to vehicles returned to the South African border. If this is applicable to your insurance then the costs would be for your account to get the vehicle from the scene of the accident in a neighbouring country to the border exit point, which could be very expensive.

The Road Accident Fund covers third party injuries and deaths provided that the accidents occur within the South African borders. To avoid being held personally liable for injuries or deaths caused by cross-border accidents motorists should determine whether vehicle liability insurance is available at the borders of the country they intend visiting and whether this cover is compulsory in that particular country.

People so look forward to their annual vacations and view this as a time to forget the mundane and it is for this reason that adequate appropriate insurance cover is often overlooked. It is definitely worth your while to include insurance planning as part of your holiday planning - it will give you peace of mind to enjoy your well-deserved vacation.