We often get asked about a typical scenario involving the policyholder’s home getting broken into and he/she not being in possession of sales receipts for some of the stolen items. In this scenario, what will the insurance company accept as proof of ownership?

Proving ownership of an item is not always just purely a matter of proving that you owned something. In fact, certain valuable items, such as jewellery, can involve proof of value rather than ownership. For example, a photo of you or your spouse wearing a ring can prove ownership, but was that a princess cut diamond or a cubic zirconia?

With valuable, scarce or one-of-a-kind articles such as jewellery, art or heirloom furniture, a proper valuation from a reputable dealer or agency might be the best option when it comes to a claim. In the case of electronic goods, there are various ways of proving ownership.

As it is not always practical to get a valuation from a retailer (think of a large double-door refrigerator), there are other ways to prove ownership, such as:

Store your receipts in a safe place

Take photographs of your contents and save them somewhere safe (nowadays there are many options to get online back-up of things like photo albums).

Make sure that you know where you keep all instruction manuals as they can also assist in determining ownership as well as make and model

Without any form of proof of ownership and value, insurance adjusters could use a comparative analysis of the rest of your belongings to gauge whether you could reasonably have owned a particular item, and it might not go in your favour as the value of items is occasionally depreciated to the maximum.

Here’s an example of comparative analysis: You have a claim for a brand new R20 000 50-inch flat screen 3-D LCD television, but the rest of your entertainment system is old, outdated equipment surrounded by bottom-of-the-line furniture. You would not get reimbursed for a television worth R20 000 when evidence suggests it was only a 10 year old 32-inch bevelled screen television (based on its surroundings).

“Make it a habit to occasionally walk through your house with the intent of checking how many of your household items you can prove ownership and value of. It’s a small administrative task that can help you a lot should you ever experience a substantial loss.”, says Joe Szemerei, Director at Indwe Direct.

“In addition, this can also assist you in establishing how much household insurance you need. Go from room to room, imagining that you have to buy everything in it brand new at today’s prices. This will give you a good indication of the true value of your possessions.”

Indwe Risk Services offer tailor-made personal insurance solutions, suited to your needs. Contact us today on 0860 13 13 14 or visit www.indwerisk.co.za for advice or a competitive quotation.