Jaco why is livestock not covered?i know you said its hard to prove but a receipt from the lfs serves the same as hardware proof.
Too many variables... To start paying out claims for fish due to death would just be crazy. Imagine people starting claiming for R500 fish that die from white spot etc.
The second argument is that what about loss due to a tank burst. Thing is, if you buy a 8cm Achilis Tang for R5000 now, and a year down the line it has grown to 30cm, how do the insurer determine the value?
The same with coral. A zoa colony of 5 polyps might have cost you R100, and after a year it has 100 polyps, how do you determine value then.
The other issue is that what prevents a client from having a fish, then it dies from what ever reason, and a client freezes it in th freezer. Then he builds himself a nice little stockpile of dead fish from friends etc. and then when is basic little two foot tank "burst" mariculously he has stingrays, 40cm angels etc that he wants to claim...
This is even why insuring dogs and cats and birds are so difficult. Hollard has a petsure product that is like medical aid for dogs, cats and horses, but still they cannot be insured.
I know cattle and horses etc can be insured, so can game animals, but there is no aquarium livestock product. I have tried to design one in conjunction with Hollard and with the help from Adam Scott, but we soon realised that there are just too many things related to it that makes the variables too high, and claims will be too frequent with premium income too low.
Really not worth it.
I do the business insurance on Dorry Pets for example, and I have managed to get them cover on their livestock against tank bursts etc. but the difference is that it is a business and that is their stock, the same as cellphones are stock in a cellphone store. But on our home policies, I cannot see livestock cover ever being a reality IMO.