Through this consumer education project, the SAIA will use radio as a medium to convey consumer financial education messaging to consumers in South Africa.

The project will follow SAIA’s Consumer Education Guidelines.

The aims of this project include:

• To improve the levels of knowledge and skills of lower income consumers in South Africa (LSMs 1 – 7) – many of whom are not current consumers of short-term insurance but potential consumers of our products – about general financial literacy concepts, and specifically about short-term insurance and relevant short-term insurance products in a generic fashion
• To change attitudes and behaviours regarding the use of general financial literacy tools and financial services products, especially short-term insurance products
• To empower these consumers through the above
• To link consumer financial education with uptake of relevant products
• To test whether radio/media is an appropriate vehicle for such consumer education
• To test whether there is a link between financial education and uptake of products

Through this project, 4 radio stations will be used to convey the messaging to the audience using indigenous South African languages. One similar radio station, where there will be no broadcast, will be used as a control audience. The financial education content will be conveyed through a 52 episode radio drama with characters that are relevant to this market.

The considerable research element of this project will inform the SAIA about future projects, as well as assist entities in South Africa and the rest of the world to ascertain the value and use of the media, specifically radio, and the methodology of edutainment in financial education.

SAIA member participation

SAIA members will be invited to participate in this project by providing information on their own relevant products for this market before and after the broadcasts, putting up call centre facilities to accept enquiries about their products, and reporting on such calls to the SAIA in order to draw the link between the education project and the potential uptake of products. Please look out for the communication in this regard that will be coming your way shortly.

The SAIA Board at its meeting on 26 November 2008 approved the SAIA Consumer Education Strategy proposed by the SAIA Consumer Education Committee. The strategy affected all of the SAIA members as participation in SAIA consumer education was now a requirement of SAIA membership, irrespective of whether the industry is governed by the Financial Sector Charter (the Charter) or not. The SAIA Board, in reaching this decision, considered the uncertain future of the Financial Sector Charter, the fact that consumer education remains a priority for the South African Government and National Treasury, and the Financial Services Board (FSB), and the commitment the financial services industry as a whole has made with regard to increased access and consumer education.

Subsequently, the SAIA Board, at its meeting on Tuesday, 4 August 2009, considered a request that SAIA members that have received exemption for consumer education in terms of the Charter will also be exempted from consumer education in terms of the SAIA Consumer Education Strategy. The request was granted.

The new SAIA Consumer Education Strategy includes the following aspects:

• All the relevant SAIA members are required to contribute 0.2% of their after tax profits to consumer education in the low-income market, except those who have received exemption.
• All the relevant SAIA members are required to contribute a minimum of 0.1% of their after tax profits (half of the 0.2%) to the SAIA collaborative initiative, unless a member spends consumer education funds within his group.
• The funds in the SAIA pool will be used by SAIA for generic consumer education, with an emphasis on short-term insurance, together with its partners as it has done over the past five years. These funds will be spent according to the SAIA Consumer Education Guidelines and the Financial Sector Charter Standards as long as these have an influence on the industry’s efforts.
• The relevant SAIA members who wish to make in-roads in the low income market by implementing their own branded consumer education projects, preferably in the identified target market and/or at point of sale, could use the remaining 50% of their 0.2% after tax profits on such initiatives. These funds should be spent according to the SAIA Consumer Education Guidelines. This expenditure should be reported to SAIA.
• Any SAIA member who wishes to contribute the full 0.2% to the SAIA pool initiative may do so.

In this regard, we have been active in many Business Against Crime South Africa (BACSA) activities and particularly in the Violent and Organised Crime Workgroup as part of the Big Business Workgroup and the Leadership Forum initiative.

We value our long-standing partnership with BACSA, and this was again supported by the industry’s decision to donate at least R1.5 million towards the violent and organised crime area as well as the road safety area, specifically aimed at drunk driving. The seventh annual donation of its kind to BACSA was approved in 2009. SAIA believes that the annual donations have made a huge contribution towards the significant and steady reduction of vehicle crime in recent times.

In addition, SAIA donated R500 000 that was used for the training of detectives in a joint project with BACSA and the Gauteng Provincial Police Service. The graduation ceremony for the 500 detectives trained took place on 25 February 2009 in Johannesburg, with Gauteng Premier, Paul Mashatile delivering the keynote address. SAIA supported this capacity building within South African Police Service (SAPS) Detective Services because this project had the potential of impacting positively on all crime types, including vehicle crime, household and business robberies and other crime types. This training augmented the skills and capacity of detectives to manage their day-to-day duties more effectively and will hopefully lead to better prepared cases that could end up in more convictions in the courts. It is our hope that the success of this initiative will be continued in Gauteng where many more detectives need the training, as well as to other priority provinces.

The implementation process started early in 2008 and was accelerated in July with the appointment of a Head of Operations, Hugo van Zyl, to commence with setting up the SAICB operations. The SAICB moved to its own premises in Midrand in October 2008 and has since been operating as an independent entity. The SAICB is a Section 21 not-for-gain association. The SAICB focuses on identifying organised crime patterns related to insurance fraud and related crimes, investigating these collaboratively with the companies and law enforcement authorities involved and assisting the prosecuting authorities with finalising prosecutions. The SAICB currently has more than 10 member companies.

The SAICB has started the process ofa building as big and varied a database of industry and other relevant information as possible, using the Information Sharing System (IDS) data as a basis. The SAICB has also put various partnerships in place with other relevant role players and has started with a number of large investigations involving several insurance companies, and many claims. The Memex system, which forms the basis of the SAICB operation, has proven invaluable and will surely assist in giving the SAICB members a return on investment.

The SAICB has taken over many functions in the crime-fighting arena that used to be SAIA’s responsibility, including the Fraud Committee as well as the Insurance Fraudline. The SAIA Fraud Committee was transferred to the SAICB, and the Insurance Fraudline contract ended with effect from the end of December 2008. The SAICB signed a new contract with Tip Offs Anonymous, the company that manages the Insurance Fraudline, and took over as the owner of Insurance Fraudline from 1 January 2009.

Click here to visit the SAICB website

Why road safety is important for our industry?

SAIA’s history with BACSA

SAIA was instrumental in the creation of Business Against Crime South Africa (BACSA) and has contributed to the funding of the institution since its inception. To this day we continue to contribute to the funding of their work. We participate with them in a wider area of crime-combating initiatives, namely violent and organised crime. The SAIA, on behalf of its members with motor insurance business, have annually made a donation of more than R1.5 million to Business Against Crime South Africa for the fight against vehicle crime. This has been in place since 2002. Great successes have been achieved with regards to the fight against motor vehicle crime since SAIA started making this annual donation.

Why road safety is the current focus

Since our involvement with BACSA began, motor theft has reduced by around 50% (measured per thousand vehicles) and is no longer the primary cause of concern for motor insurers although still important. Instead, road safety has become an area of great concern as the motor account is under considerable pressure with around 70% of motor insurance claims being road accident related (and alcohol consumption is a factor in many of these instances) while still supporting crime initiatives to make sure that the successes that have been achieved are sustained.

Statistics

Road safety is not only a South African challenge.

In the United Nations General Assembly report titled 2003 Road Traffic Injuries and their Impact on Societies, it is stated that “Road traffic injuries are a global problem affecting all sectors of society. To date, road safety has received insufficient attention at the international and national levels. This has resulted in part from a lack of political responsibility and multidisciplinary collaboration needed to tackle it effectively.”

The World Health Organisation in its review of "The Global Burden of Disease" projects changes in the ranking of the 15 leading causes of death and disease worldwide, from 1990 to 2020. In this review, the rating of road accidents as a cause of death is projected to move from a ranking of 9 in 1990 to 3rd in 2020.

What therefore is happening in South Africa on our roads?

In the Report of the Road Accident Fund Commission (2002) it is stated that “South Africa has one of the highest road traffic death tolls in the world. The reasons are manifold – ranging from arrogance behind the wheel to ignorance about the rules of the road; from fraudulent issuing of drivers’ licences to the absence of infrastructure to patrol and police the roads; from driving under the influence of alcohol to speeding. A number of initiatives from both civil society and from the authorities have failed to stem the rising tide of casualties.”

Furthermore, Arrive Alive reports (2009) that:

• The number of unlicensed vehicles on the roads is 481,000
• The number of unroadworthy vehicles on the roads is 377,000
• There is a total of 970,000 expired licences
• There is a total of 233,000 expired Professional Driving Permits
• 90% of road accidents are preceded by a road traffic offence
• It is estimated that the cost of road accidents to individuals, commerce, communities and the country tops R38 billion per annum
• Every day 36 lives are lost on average. This means that in a year more than 13 000 lives are needlessly lost. Of these 15 are pedestrians and 3 are killed in taxi-related incidents
• Around 20 people are permanently disabled on our roads every day
• More than 7000 people are left maimed each year by poor attitude and behaviour on our roads

Despite these horrific statistics, road safety is not a national priority, and no government / business partnership exists to combat this scourge to society. Is it not time that everybody gets together to try to put a stop to this appalling carnage? South Africa can not afford to continue with the current appalling losses when something can be done to reduce the present unacceptable statistics.

The reasons for the current road safety problems

The reasons for the current road safety problems are many: The age of our vehicle car park, the lack of compulsory roadworthiness testing, alcohol abuse and the general poor attitude towards road safety of our drivers.

The ever increasing frequency of vehicle accidents can be partly attributed to the vehicle population estimated at over 9.5 million, as well as the inability of the road infrastructure to cope with the increase in traffic density.

The impact of road safety on insurance

The traffic density on the roads has increased the frequency of vehicle accidents. This has not only had an effect on the short-term insurance industry, but in turn, has cost our economy enormous amounts of money. The industry has experienced a continued increase in the average cost of repairs and this, amongst other factors has been associated with the introduction of a variety of imported vehicles into the market.

Road safety problems such as drunk driving have also impacted on the cost of comprehensive motor insurance, with the steep increase in the cost of claims contributing to a decline in profitability. In addition, the increase in vehicle accidents and the reduction in new vehicle sales add even more pressure to motor insurance portfolios.

While sophisticated underwriting tools have been implemented by insurers in an attempt to effectively manage costs, some external factors, such as the roadworthiness of vehicles, have compounded this predicament.

Therefore initiatives need to be put in place to ensure that motor insurance premiums remain available at an affordable price to the current and future policy holders of South African motor insurance.

The key challenges were recognised at SAIA Board level and Motor was adopted as SAIA’s fourth key strategic area with the sole focus of addressing the broad motor-related issues, more specifically the affordability and sustainability of motor comprehensive insurance. Being the main class of business within the short-term insurance sector, focus on this area is now a sector imperative.

Drunk driving

Because many of SAIA’s motor insurance members have recognised a problem in terms of motor vehicle accident related claims that are linked to alcohol, the area of drunk driving was identified as an area where urgent action is needed in light of the current road safety challenges. In fact, some of our members have indicated that, of the accident related claims where alcohol testing was undertaken, an estimated 80% of the claims end up being rejected.

In addition to the fatalities, it is important to note that drunk driving, or driving under the influence of alcohol, could also have a number of less obvious negative consequences for the drivers on South African roads.

Since driving under the influence and drunk driving are against the law, insurance claims as a result of such offences could be declined.

In addition, if South African citizens continue to have a spirit of unlawfulness when it comes to driving, including driving under the influence of alcohol and drunk driving, motor insurance premiums could peak to unaffordable levels which could mean that people might not be able to afford motor insurance cover. Should an accident happen when someone does not have insurance cover, there will be no cover for the loss and this could lead to extreme financial stress and unhappiness.

Insurance premiums reflect levels of risk, and if the risk of accident is perceived as extremely high, higher premiums will follow. Should we be unable to address the reasons for high accident rates in South Africa, for instance drunk driving, insurance companies could ultimately be forced to continue to increase motor insurance premiums. This will lead to a negative impact on consumers and ultimately the economy.

It is therefore vital that drivers and insurance companies start working together to keep motor insurance costs down.

Road safety initiatives

SAIA has, since 2002 donated funds to BACSA in an effort to fight crime. This year (2009), R1 535 000 was donated to Business Against Crime SA on behalf of SAIA members to be used as explained below:

• R1 035 000 is to be used towards Business Against Crime South Africa's Violent and Organised Crime initiative, that includes vehicle crime and other crimes such as business robberies and household robberies;
• The rest of the funds will be used for a road safety initiative in co-operation with Business Against Crime South Africa and the Johannesburg Metro Police Department. This initiative has been identified as extremely important in an attempt to curtail alcohol related road accidents and have resulted in the creation of a second blood alcohol testing centre.

In addition, a road safety initiative which will include an awareness campaign is currently being developed by the SAIA. SAIA has also recognized and supported the initiatives of Shayela Approved in promoting Defensive Driving Skills Standards. Defensive driving is defined as “Driving so as to prevent collisions in spite of incorrect actions of other road users or in the presence of adverse driving conditions”.

The SAIA has embarked on a consultative process with relevant stakeholders with an initial focus on non-Governmental organisations. The Road Safety Foundation (RSF) is currently leading “A call for a Decade of Road Safety” initiative in conjunction with the United Nations. It is anticipated by the RSF that some form of funding will be provided by the United Nations for the support of developing countries on initiatives for road safety.

Road Safety: An Area of Great Concern
- Article by Adéle Joubert

Road safety initiatives are being implemented by the South African Insurance Association (SAIA) in an attempt to curb the high accident rate in South Africa and to thereby ensure that motor insurance remains affordable. “Motor insurance, our largest class of business is under considerable pressure with around 70% of insurance claims being road accident related and alcohol consumption is a factor in many of these instances,” says SAIA spokesperson.

One of the SAIA’s most recent initiatives to curtail alcohol related road accidents, on behalf of its members in the short-term insurance industry, is the creation of a second Alcohol Testing blood alcohol testing centre in partnership with Business Against Crime South Africa and the Johannesburg Metro Police Department.

“The new breathalyzer technology that is used in this centre now enables the police to obtain a breath alcohol sample that can be used as evidence of alcohol consumption in a court. In the past, a blood alcohol sample had to be taken,” says Wayne Minnaar, spokesperson for the South African Police Services.

“In addition to alcohol, with the vehicle population estimated at over 9.5 million, traffic density on South African roads has also increased the frequency of vehicle accidents. This has not only had an effect on the short-term insurance industry, but in turn, has cost our economy enormous amounts of money,” says SAIA's spokesperson.

“The short-term insurance industry has also experienced a continued increase in the average cost of repairs and this has been associated with the introduction of a variety of imported vehicles into the market. In addition, the reduction in new vehicle sales adds even more pressure to motor accounts. While sophisticated underwriting tools have been implemented by insurers in an attempt to effectively manage costs, some external factors, such as the roadworthiness of vehicles, have compounded this predicament,” says SAIA's spokesperson.

Road safety is an international challenge. In the United Nations General Assembly report titled 2003 Road Traffic Injuries and their Impact on Societies, it is stated that “Road traffic injuries are a global problem affecting all sectors of society. To date, road safety has received insufficient attention at the international and national levels. This has resulted in part from a lack of political responsibility and multidisciplinary collaboration needed to tackle it effectively.”

Arrive Alive reports that every day in South Africa an average of 36 lives are lost on our roads. Of these, 15 are pedestrians and 3 are killed in taxi-related incidents.

“SAIA believes that the road safety statistics are appalling and that it is time that government and private industry get together to develop a national initiative to stop this carnage on our roads. South Africa can not afford to continue with the current appalling losses when something can be done to reduce the present unacceptable statistics and to keep motor insurance affordable,” says SAIA's spokesperson.

The link between crime and road safety
- Article by Viviene Pearson

Most people would be very concerned about the fact that around 50 people are murdered in South Africa daily, however, not as many seem to be as worried about the fact that around 36 people lose their lives in road accidents daily. In fact, an important link between crime and road safety exists in more ways than one.

“In general, a link between high crime rates and high accident rates in South Africa exists because of a distinct lack of a law abiding culture and society, amongst many other reasons,” says Viviene Pearson, Manager: Image and Reputation of SAIA.

Statistics show that ninety (90) percent of all road accidents are preceded by a road traffic offence. It is against the law to drive under the influence of alcohol for example, just as it is to drive over the speed limit, or to skip a traffic light, or to drive a motor vehicle that is not roadworthy, or to drive without a license, adds Pearson.

Not only can any of these offences end up in a tragic motor vehicle accident, with resultant loss of lives, assets as well as money, they can also lead to the driver of the vehicle ending up with a criminal record. Should someone be injured or killed in such an accident, serious charges can be laid at the door of the driver of the vehicle including culpable homicide. Even if an accident does not happen, and a driver of a vehicle is found to be disregarding the law, for example driving under the influence of alcohol, the driver can end up with a criminal record for the offence itself.

“Another link exists between high motor vehicle accident rates and high motor vehicle crime rates,” Pearson adds.

Motor vehicles that are stolen are usually stolen for monetary gain. Some vehicles are stolen for the parts market and end up in ‘chop shops’. The estimated percentage of stolen vehicles ending up in ‘chop shops’, is in the region of 10%. In addition, it is estimated that 30% of stolen vehicles are ‘exported’ to other countries. This means that around 60% of all stolen vehicles land up re-registered on our own roads, that is they end up in the ‘domestic market’.

“Many methods exist to make re-registration of vehicles possible. One of these include buying accident damaged vehicles and/or wrecks, or even just the records of these vehicles, in order to use these records for stolen vehicles. The details of the stolen vehicle are then changed to match the record of the accident damaged vehicle. In this way a stolen vehicle obtains a legitimate life if its own,” says Pearson.

It is for these reasons, as well as the unacceptable losses of many human lives and the cost of the high accident rates on our economy as well as on our industry that the South African Insurance Association is increasingly giving attention to road safety matters in addition to our historical attention to vehicle and other crime in South Africa.

This could happen to you…
The procedures followed when you are stopped for an alcohol breathalyzer test while driving.
- Article by Adéle Joubert

The recently opened Alcohol Testing blood alcohol testing centre in Johannesburg, created by the South African Insurance Association (SAIA), in partnership with Business Against Crime South Africa and the Johannesburg Metro Police Department is certainly not the place where anybody would like to find themselves on a Saturday evening, or any other day or night.

“The new breathalyzer technology that is used in this centre now enables the police to obtain a breath alcohol sample, within minutes, that can be used as evidence of alcohol consumption in a court. In the past, a blood alcohol sample had to be taken, which delayed the process quite substantially,” says Wayne Minnaar, spokesperson for the South African Police Services (SAPS).

“It would have been ideal to give everybody in South Africa the opportunity to have a guided walk through a Alcohol Testing alcohol testing centre, of course, without the arresting officer and the people who are waiting to be tested because they are suspected to be under the influence of alcohol around, which would have been the case in a real situation. This experience as well as learning more about the devastating consequences of drunken driving, from being arrested like a criminal to having a criminal record after only two glasses of wine, would give people a big enough shock to realise the severity of such an offence,” says Viviene Pearson, SAIA Manager: Image & Reputation.

As part of the South African criminal justice system, new methods of no tolerance with regards to road safety are being put in place to benefit and protect everybody in our country. “Road safety initiatives should not be seen as a negative thing, as it could save your life or the life of a loved one,” says Ms Pearson.

In order to avoid ever having to face the consequences of drunken driving, it is important to have detailed knowledge around this up to now, grey area. As a public responsibility, SAIA has put together these interesting questions and answers in consultation with the JMPD (Wayne Minnaar) and Medi-Clinic (Dr Hannes Loots):

Question: What is the legal limit and how many drinks can one have before reaching the limit?

Answer: There is a difference between the legal limit of a blood sample and the legal limit of a breath sample. With a blood sample, alcohol consumption is measured in milligrams and the legal limit is 0.05 grams.

However, with a breath sample (as the case would be in an Alcohol Testing Centre), alcohol consumption is measured in millilitres and the legal limit is 0.24 milligrams per 1 000 millilitres of breath. Of course, much lower limits apply to people who have professional driving permits.

The new breathalyser technology that is used in the Randburg and Johannesburg Alcohol Testing Centres, allows for samples to be attached to the docket without having to take a blood sample to serve as evidence in court.

However, the breath and blood samples equates to the same volume of litres that an average person (who weighs approximately 70 kilogram) could consume, which is no more than approximately 2 glasses of wine, or no more that 2 glasses of beer, or no more than one double tot of spirit liqueur every two hours.

Question: What happens when you are taken to an Alcohol Testing Centre?

Answer: When stopped on the side of the road, for instance in a road block, the police officer will ascertain weather a driver is under the influence or not, by doing observations, such as looking into the person’s eyes (whether it is bloodshot), determining whether the person’s speech is slurred, determining whether the person is unsteady on his/her feet or smells of liqueur (sobriety test). Should the officer judge that the person might be under the influence, he/she will be placed under arrest and taken to an Alcohol Testing Centre.

At the Alcohol Testing Centre, you complete a breathalyser test (within a few minutes, depending on the number of people who need to give a breath sample) and a docket is completed.

The Alcohol Testing Centre has new intoxymetres (breathalyzers), which gives four print outs, each containing the case number, the date, the time, the person’s name and the alcohol reading. One print out goes into the docket, one goes to the person, one goes to the arresting officer for his records and the last one goes to the officer who does the test for his records. Any one of these copies can be used in court as evidence that a person has consumed alcohol.

You are then taken to a police station where the docket is handed in and where the person under the influence is placed in the police cells. The person may be released after sobering up and after paying bail. People who are unable to pay the bail, or who are extremely highly intoxicated, or who resist being arrested on the side of the road, might have to spend the night in prison.

The following day the person will be taken to a court where the case will be either postponed or heard. Should a person be found guilty for driving under the influence in court of law, he/she will have a criminal record for the rest of his/her life.

Question: Can big and strong people consume more alcohol than smaller people before reaching the same legal limit and why / why not?

Answer: The content may vary slightly from person to person, which is why the average person can consume no more than approximately 2 glasses of wine, or no more that 2 glasses of beer, or no more than one double tot of spirit liqueur every two hours. For instance, a bigger person with an empty stomach may have the same alcohol content as a smaller person who had eaten something. However, everybody has 6 litres of blood and therefore, the content variations will be so small that it would be almost insignificant.

Therefore, a muscular male weighing 120 kilogram (who have something substantial in his stomach) may be able to consumer more alcohol before looking or feeling drunk because of his metabolism and weight. However, should he be tested, his blood or breath sample would show the same reading as that of a very small person (with almost nothing in his/her stomach) who consumed the same amount of liquor

Question: Would a person be able to sober up quicker (and lower his/her breath/blood alcohol reading) if he/she drink lots of water, eat a big meal, or chew chewing gum and why/why not? How long does it take to sober up?

Answer: If a person under the influence would, for instance, drink lots of water, it would help him/her to get the alcohol out of his/her system quicker, and then that person might appear sober; however, one can not lessen the amount (milligrams) of alcohol in ones system by mixing it with water (in an attempt to affect the blood/breath alcohol reading)

Question: Would it help if you blow softly or inhale when you are tested with an Alcohol Testing breathalyzer?

Answer: If a person does not blow hard enough to provide sufficient air into the breathalyzer, it would not give a reading, which means that the process would have to be repeated.

Question: If you are able to walk in a straight line and “feel fine”, are you necessarily in a condition to drive?

Answer: People who have consumed over the limit will normally be unable to walk straight on a straight line, however, alcohol affects different people differently, some people may feel fine and be able to walk on a straight line and still be over the limit. Usually, unfortunately when someone is over the limit they would feel more than fine, which is exactly the problem.

Question: What will happen when you are over the limit and causes one of your passengers, or a pedestrian to lose his/her life?

Answer: You will face a charge of culpable homicide for causing the death of a person as well as a charge of drunken driving. However, court cases might have different outcomes as each case is based on its merits. One person (who is the sole provider for three kids for instance) might be released after paying a fine of R20 000 where another person might be jailed. However, in both cases the person will have a criminal record.

Question: If you are over the limit when tested, will the outcome always be a criminal record, or would it be possible to get away with a fine only?

Answer: After being found guilty of driving under the influence in court of law you will ultimately have a criminal record.

Question: How could one avoid causing an accident because of driving under the influence and what are the options if you realise that you should not drive after having a few drinks?

Answer: It is highly recommended that a driver who has consumed alcohol should rather arrange a cab to take him/her home, arrange with someone to come and fetch him/her and take him/her home, sleep over at the place if possible or, to appoint a dedicated driver who can be trusted not to consume alcohol to take him/her home. The JMPD strongly recommends that companies should make arrangements for people to be driven home after consuming alcohol at work functions.

Question: How long does it take to sober up enough to be able to drive after drinking too much? What could be done to speed up the process?

Answer: The more liquor the driver consumes, the longer it will take for the driver to sober up. It could even take until the next morning for the person to sober up.

Insurance consequences in the case of drunk driving
- Article by Viviene Pearson

When one has the unfortunate experience to land up in a motor vehicle accident, many bad consequences could be suffered. The least of all may be the worry about who is going to pay for the damage to the vehicles involved.

That is what insurance is for though, isn’t it?

“That is certainly true,” says Viviene Pearson, Image and Reputation Manager for the South African Insurance Association (SAIA).

However, an insurance contract is just that, a contract. And most insurance contracts will exclude claims that resulted from an accident that happened while the driver was under the influence of alcohol. Contracts will differ from insurance company to insurance company but most will state quite clearly that the insurer will not be liable for any accident, injury, loss, damage or liability in the case of drunken driving, or driving under the influence of alcohol, or even driving while having a higher concentration of alcohol in your blood or breath that is allowed by law. So, not only could the damage to your car not be covered, but any personal injury or liability claims from passengers or others may also become the problem of the individual involved.

Insurance policies will have different clauses. Some will only exclude claims when driving under the influence is proven, others will exclude claims where it can be proven that a person had a concentration of alcohol in his bloodstream or breath at the time of the incident or was driving under the influence of alcohol. In some instances, even claims where the driver of the vehicle was under the influence of alcohol without the knowledge and/or consent of the policyholder could be excluded.

“Driving under the influence of alcohol is illegal, as is drunken driving. Insurance contracts cannot go beyond the law of the country,” added Ms Pearson.

Apart from quite possibly not having your insurance claim paid, and having to carry the cost of the damage yourself, one can experience even more problems with regards to insurance. Your insurer could quite possibly decide that you are too high a risk for its appetite and decide not to continue to insure you. In this case, this cancellation of insurance will be noted and shared and you might even find it difficult to get insurance from any other insurer.

“This could have quite far reaching consequences. It is, for instance, impossible to buy a car on higher purchase without insurance,” Ms Pearson added.

“It seems as if it should be quite simple. No-one should endanger themselves, or their loved ones, or even complete strangers by drinking and driving. And no one should jeapordise his or her insurance and/or insurability by doing so either. The potential consequences are just not worth it,” Ms Pearson concluded.