How to insure your aquarium...

RiaanP said:
that is a dangerous view on insurance.

Look around, there are a couple of cars every day with you on the road, worth more than half a mil. With ABS, and can stop faster than you can think. Even if you do have ABS, what is your reaction time, and what were you watching a few seconds ago? Can get involved in an accident like in a half a second. And then you are paying of some other dudes car like forever. His insurance will cover his car, and then sue your insurance or you.
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Thats why you should take out 3rd party cover it costs like around R97 a month lol i got this on my cheaper cars so i dont gotta stress if someone knocks some okes s class or a8.;)

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.
 
Falcon said:
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.
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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.
 
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I doubt if Dorry claim for every little fish they loose?
 
hmm ok makes sense then yes people will be claiming left right and center in this hobby:p
 
RiaanP said:
I know a guy who had a 1.2m fresh water tank. with Somebody else sump cracked, anyway cabinet swollen. One of those curved glass tanks with curved cabinet and special canopy. Canopy also shaped like the glass with lights fitted inside it. Insurance paid out tank and cabinet. Not the canopy and lights. But you can do nothing else with the canopy unit.
Here your advice that the insurance company should know what you want to be insured, is very valuable.
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@RiaanP, I phoned the insurance today to find out when they are picking up the old tank. They told me they are not collecting it since they only paid me out for the glass.

I suppose I'll be selling that tank as well now, or maybe I should start up again... I have a new sump and the tank is still fine. It's just the cabinet that's a bit swollen. :whistling:

BTW, thanks for sharing Jaco.
 
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Insurance on aquarium

:(Hi all your reefers,

Question for Jaco Schoeman!!

Aquarium tank burst. Is my tank covered?
 
I wrote a very long reply about this, and then decided that this will ust go WAY above most peoples heads, so let me keep it simple...

If a tank stands by itself, and just bursts, then no, it is not covered...

UNLESS...

You have specifically requested it to be insured agains this.

Firstly we use "tank bursting" very loosely... The oxford dictionary describes "burst" as follows: break open or apart suddenly and violently, especially as a result of an impact or internal pressure - one of the balloons burst

Now to get realy technical, our tanks are under pressure, but it is not enclosed... We cannot increase water pressure by adding more water, as the tops are open and it will just overflow. Our tanks merely crack and collapses. A balloon or geyser or pipe is closed up all way, thus if you add more air (ballon) or water (geyser) than it can handle, it actually bursts...

Many insurers would say that "bursting" is an exclusion, and I agree. But what about geyser bursting or pipe bursting? Would they repudiate the consequential loss too as the origin of the damage was "bursting?" I doubt it.

Under normal multimark wording, bursting would be excluded yes.

How insurers came to insure geysers, is they used the All Risk rating structure, where as I have explained earlier, there is no real "peril" linked to it. This is the highest rate normally, and can run into the 10-15% region depending on insurer.

I would suggest, that you again discuss this with your insurer / broker, and ask them to rather insure the tank on Accidental Damage, but include glass and rate on an All Risk rate. Alternatively let them insure it under an all risk section from the start, and let them specify glass and bursting.

Hope that answers your question Frik...
 
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Just on a side note...

As per ANYTHING in life, communication is key here. There is NOTHING that cannot be insured. If a broker or insurer says they cannot insure something, get another place that will...

You need to talk with your broker, and make sure he understands what you require, why and what is involved.

From a broker / insurer point of view (legally) a full needs analysis should be done where you have determined the needs of a client. Many clients does not know that they need to insure the R200 000 Rolex around their arm, as they think it falls within household contents cover. This is where the needs analysis should have shown that the client has a Rolex, and the broker / insurer should advise the client accordingly.

If this was not done, then by law the broker / insurer might have a proffesional indemnity claim against him. This is in short insurance we carry to save our backs if we did not do our work properly. If I insure a petrol garage, and do not advise the owner that he needs fire cover, and the place burns down, then I did not do my job, and he can claim the loss against me.

So from both parties good communication is key. This is why I personally like to visit each client I write up, to go and view the possilbe risks, and do the financial needs analysis accordingly. I know however this might be impossible for a large direct insurer, as they have hundreds of thousands of clients...

But still, a broker or financial advisor for that matter is supposed to make it his business to know everything about his client that he possibly can, and the client needs to disclose everything openly to ensure a smooth future.

Just communicate all your concerns and needs to the insurers, and I am certain you will have no issues when claiming...
 
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great thread bud thanks ....
 
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