Avoid regret: Insurance tips for making smarter decisions
Insurance adds value to both life and items we own, offering stability, security, and peace of mind. It plays a critical role in helping us manage life's uncertainties that have financial implications.
Santam's 2025 insurance barometer report, surveying nearly 900 South African customers, businesses and brokers, highlights the emerging risks we face today. It makes a case for the importance of informed, forward-thinking insurance decisions.
The risks identified in South Africa
The report notes how South African households are feeling impacted by the persistently high inflation and interest rates, with 84 percent of consumer survey respondents saying they have had to make adjustments to cope with the increased cost of living.
Atang Matebesi, CEO of Santam Client Solutions, notes how the changes in the local and international risk landscape mean the local short-term insurance industry must continue to adapt at a rapid pace.
Atang says, 'Weather volatility, infrastructure concerns and socio-economic challenges have created a tough environment for local insurers.'
READ MORE | 6 ways to master financial resilience through tough economic times
Beyond the cost of living, the report highlights other concerns, which include:
Crime - '16 percent more consumer respondents citing it as a top three risk for their households now, compared with 2023'.
Climate change - '78 percent of consumers citing they are in some way concerned about the threat of extreme weather events'.
Cost of living - 47 percent cite economic challenges.
With the changing role of insurance brokers, the report highlights how insurers must provide meaningful risk management tools. Beyond this, there's the growing question of how to make more informed insurance choices. Where does it start and where does it end?
Types of insurance
Investopedia, a U.S.-based financial publication, notes these four types of crucial insurance policies you need:
Life insurance;
Health insurance;
Long-term disability coverage; and
Car-insurance.
READ MORE | Nicolette Mashile on financial literacy - 'It should be a basic human right'
Tips on picking the right insurance policy for you
South Africa-based MiSure Insurance Brokers suggests you consider the following:
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
G20 president S.Africa warns global turmoil hurts poorer nations
Global fragmentation is fuelling unprecedented turmoil and disproportionately harming poorer nations, South Africa's foreign minister warned Thursday, urging a united G20 response for peace. Ronald Lamola made the remarks to dozens of diplomats from the G20 group of the world's leading economies meeting to prepare for its summit in November under South Africa's presidency. "State rivalries are fuelling fragmentation, with economic decoupling, and proxy conflicts undermining global stability," the foreign minister said, referring to multiple major conflicts and humanitarian crises under way. This was "exacerbating fragility in vulnerable regions while also weakening multilateral institutions that underpin the rules-based international order," he said. South Africa is the first African nation to hold the rotating year-long presidency of the group made up of 19 countries plus the European Union and the African Union that together represent around two-thirds of the world's population and 80 percent of its GDP. Pretoria wants to use its presidency to champion Global South priorities, including boosting climate resilience and tackling poor countries' debt, before handing the baton to the United States next year. Speaking to AFP, Lamola said he was hopeful that the talks at the Sun City resort 185 kilometres (115 miles) northwest of Johannesburg "will persuade and help to encourage the message of peace, good friendly neighbours and the language of de-escalation." Resolutions taken by the bloc are non-binding in nature and the diverse grouping has often failed to reach a consensus. However, many members hold seats on the UN Security Council or are involved in conflict resolution efforts, making the G20 "an important platform" and "very persuasive", Lamola told reporters. - US apology - Lamola said he was not concerned that the United States -- the bloc's richest member -- did not send a representative to Sun City. "We have received their letter of apology, in which they stated their reasons," he said. "We believe that the G20 can proceed with or without the US, but they are important in terms of participation." Relations between South Africa and the United States plummeted this year over a range of international and domestic policies and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio skipped the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Cape Town in February. Keen to salvage his summit, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa tried at talks with Donald Trump in May to have the US leader commit to attend the Johannesburg meeting. The Russian representative at the Sun City, Svetlana Lukash, was non-committal about the attendance of President Vladimir Putin, saying only he will take part "in some way". Putin missed the previous G20 summits in India and Brazil, avoiding possible political opprobrium and any risk of criminal detention under an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant. Lukash said G20 members remained divided over Russia's war in Ukraine but were less fixated on the conflict than they were when it started in 2022. The war has split the G20, with Western countries condemning the invasion and pouring military and financial aid into Ukraine, while Russia has courted support from emerging powers such as Brazil, China and India. "Most of the world closed their eyes on numerous conflicts around the world due to dominance of Western views," she said. But more countries now recognised the "double standards", Lukash said. ho/br/cw
Entrepreneur
2 hours ago
- Entrepreneur
Prince Khaled Backs Major US Risk Assessment Company in Series D Round
You're reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed's KBW Ventures has joined a Series D round of US$60 million for Clearspeed, a San Diego-headquartered global voice-based risk assessment technology provider. The round was led by Align Private Capital, with participation from IronGate Capital Advisors, Bravo Victor Venture Capital in addition to KBW Ventures. It brings the company's total funding to US$110 million. General David H. Petraeus (US Army, Ret.) former CIA Director and Commander of U.S. Central Command, also joined as a multi-round investor. "Clearspeed has demonstrated true dual-use potential—with scalable commercial results and meaningful impact in high-stakes environments," Nekoranec said. It's rare to see a solution that can reduce fraud, mitigate security threats, and save significant costs without creating friction for the end user. This is the innovation needed to build smarter, more human-centered systems of trust." In insurance, Clearspeed consistently yields more than 30X return on investment by assessing risk early in the claims and underwriting process - driving faster, more accurate decisions that improve customer outcomes, including cutting claims handling time in half and increasing immediate payments to customers by 40%. Zurich Insurance—a global multi-line insurer serving 75 million customers across 200+ countries—has significantly accelerated claims payment to customers where they've implemented Clearspeed, allowing them to provide more immediate relief in moments of need. "We see Clearspeed as a powerful complement to an insurer's multi-layered global risk strategy—offering a streamlined, trust-building experience for customers while helping to make more confident decisions and combat increasingly complex fraud," said Scott Clayton, Head of Claims Fraud, Zurich Insurance. The Clearspeed team. Government stakeholders increasingly view Clearspeed's commercial success as critical to combating fraud, waste, and abuse—and advancing national security priorities such as countering threat financing, drug testing, personnel vetting, and partner force screening. Agencies using Clearspeed have seen a 95% reduction in vetting cycle time and a 65% drop in investigation costs. "As security threats evolve, so must the solutions designed to counter them," said General Petraeus (US Army, Ret.). "Clearspeed's AI-enabled voice analytics delivers outsized value for personnel vetting, insider threat mitigation, and enterprise security—where building trust quickly is paramount." "This investment propels Clearspeed into a bold new chapter," said Alex Martin, co-founder and CEO of Clearspeed. "We're doubling down on the markets where trust and speed matter most—government, defense, insurance, banking—and expanding globally to meet the growing demand for secure, high-integrity screening. We're investing in our teams, accelerating innovation, and ensuring our technology stays ahead—not just to grow, but to help organizations worldwide realize the strategic advantage of rapidly establishing trust."
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Orient Insurance PJSC and Its Main Subsidiaries, Orient Takaful Insurance Company (S.A.E.) and Orient Takaful PJSC
LONDON, June 26, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of "a+" (Excellent) of Orient Insurance PJSC (Orient) (United Arab Emirates) and its subsidiaries, Orient Takaful Insurance Company (S.A.E.) (Egypt) and Orient Takaful PJSC (UAE). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. These companies collectively are referred to as Orient or the group. The ratings reflect Orient's balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its very strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. Orient's balance sheet strength is underpinned by its consolidated risk-adjusted capitalisation at the strongest level, as measured by Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). The group's balance sheet strength is supported by prudent reserving practices and its strong liquidity position. Orient's investment portfolio includes a material strategic equity holding that accounted for approximately 22% of total invested assets at year-end 2024 and introduces potential volatility in Orient's capital and surplus, owing to fair value movements. The group's remaining invested asset portfolio is conservative, with a weighting toward cash and fixed-term bank deposits. The balance sheet strength assessment also factors in Orient's high dependence on reinsurance. Counterparty credit risk is partially mitigated by the use of a panel of financially sound reinsurance partners. The group has a track record of very strong operating profitability and reported a return-on-equity ratio of 15.3%, and a net-net non-life combined ratio of 88.6% (both as calculated by AM Best) for 2024, despite the occurrence of large, unprecedented weather-related events impacting the market. AM Best expects that the group's prudent approach to risk selection and focus on profitability over top-line growth will sustain its very strong technical performance over the medium-term as the group navigates challenging market conditions, including high competition. Orient's business profile assessment reflects the group's continued leading market position in the UAE, where it ranks as the largest listed insurer by insurance services revenue (ISR), providing both conventional and takaful services. The group's profile assessment reflects its strong brand, multichannel distribution network, and its affiliation with its ultimate parent, Al Futtaim Holding Limited. Whilst Orient continues to grow its overseas operations and expand its geographical reach, its premium is largely sourced from the UAE, where approximately 90% of its ISR was generated in 2024. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best's Credit Ratings, Best's Performance Assessments, Best's Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best's Ratings & Assessments. AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit Copyright © 2025 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on Contacts Emily Thompson Senior Financial Analyst +44 20 7397 0291 Christopher Sharkey Associate Director, Public Relations +1 908 882 2310 Mahesh Mistry Senior Director, Analytics +44 20 7397 0325 Al Slavin Senior Public Relations Specialist +1 908 882 2318 Sign in to access your portfolio
