You Need Third Party Car Insurance
Car insurance may well be a legal requirement in other countries, but not in South Africa, yet Third Party Only is the cheapest cover available and very few motorists are interested!
If you buy a new vehicle and take out a loan, the lender requires you to have car insurance. Once your loan is paid up, you no longer need car insurance.
It is your choice entirely what kind of car insurance you choose. However, it’s important to have some form of insurance!
What’s stopping Third Party Only insurance being made Mandatory?
In South Africa, you can choose between Third Party Only, Third Party Fire and Theft or Fully Comprehensive Insurance.
Most people with old cars and cars that they don’t drive very often find that Third Party Only car insurance is an attractive and adequate option.
Short-term insurers in South Africa are always lobbying the government to introduce overall third-party insurance for motorists, but so far this hasn’t materialised.
Maybe the government is afraid there’ll be widespread protests and vandalism for insisting on this kind of insurance. Only about 35% of the cars on the road carry third-party property damage.
South African roads are Dangerous – Third Party Only will offer Some protection
One thing is sure, though, with so many accidents on South Africa’s hazardous roads, motorists must AT LEAST have third party car insurance.
It’s not going to insure your car against damages but will at least cover damage to any third party involving their car, other property or injuries.
With Third Party insurance, at least you don’t have to worry about the massive financial costs you may have to pay for the other vehicle’s damage.
Third party insurance ensures all claims made by a third party, and you won’t need to worry about being financially liable. Without car insurance, you face the risk of having to pay huge sums of money for repair work, and this can bankrupt you.
Third party doesn’t Cover any of Your expenses at all
As the name suggests, it includes only the third party involved in a car accident when it’s your fault. However, this is better than no insurance at all.
If you travel beyond South African borders to countries like Botswana and Namibia for instance, you’ll have to have third party insurance lest you are held liable for causing damage to another vehicle.
Who is this Third Party?
The third party is the person who has suffered loss and damage because of your actions. If you don’t have insurance, damage to your vehicle in an accident caused by another party, will not be paid out.
The third party may only claim against the responsible party and not directly against the insurer.
What Isn’t Covered?
Third-party insurance doesn’t cover your loss if you’ve been in an accident. Not covered is damage to your car or another property, and you have to pay for it yourself. If the crash was caused by somebody else, then you can claim against the other party.
Get a Quote – it’s the Least you can Do
The Road Accident Fund (RAF) takes on your responsibility in the case of a third party injury. It covers bodily harm to the other party, but not damage to their car.
Santam has different plans for every kind of vehicle – Comprehensive, Limited and Third Party Only. Their Third Party Only vehicle insurance will at least cover the cost of repair to the third party car.
Call 0860 444 444 or check out their website. Santam is a leader in insurance who offer a free SOS service and a 24/7 emergency line.
To get your car insurance quote, please complete and submit the form on this page
All info was correct at time of publishing October 11, 2018
