Insurance companies receive high volumes of claims following KZN storm

Santam says it received hundreds of insurance claims following the deadly storm that devastated oThongathi (Tongaat) and other parts of northern KwaZulu-Natal last week.

Some residents described the ongoing trauma they are still experiencing in the wake of the carnage, with homes completely destroyed.

The heavy winds and rains killed at least 12 people and left 12 000 homeless.

Government officials and NGOs worked hard to provide relief aid through food, healthcare and other basic necessities.

Rowland Ramalingam, head of non-motor claims at Santam, said of the 1 300 claims received, more than 300 were from KZN.

“The rest of the claims were from the Eastern Cape. Most of the claims relate to flooding, roofs blowing off, and damage to property, due to heavy weather.

“The areas we received most of the claims from in KwaZulu-Natal include Tongaat, Westbrook, KwaDukuza and Newcastle.”

Floods battered the Nelson Mandela Bay metro on June 1 and caused extreme damage in many other parts of the Eastern Cape, claiming at least 10 lives.

Ramalingam said they have to follow certain procedures to process claims.

“Once the claims are registered, we appoint our assessors and service providers to go out and assist the clients by, for example, going through some emergency repairs to safeguard the property.

“We have a catastrophe team in KZN to assist assessors in expediting the claims. In addition, we have assisted clients with temporary accommodation and upfront interim settlement for total losses.”

Funeka Ngewu, executive head of Claims and Claims Support at Momentum, said they had received over 150 claims related to the storm that hit KZN last week.

“Our exposure was predominantly in the Tongaat, Seatides and Desainagar areas.”

Ngewu said the time frame for claims to be processed depended on the severity of the loss. “Some homes have very little damage and the turnaround times on those claims can be up to a maximum of a week to authorise. The more severe damages would take some time to assess, quantify and authorise, and it’s difficult to put a time frame on those.

“We’re doing our best to ensure that those clients are kept safe and have alternate accommodation and emergency supplies such as clothing and toiletries until we can finalise the claim.”

Ngewu said they had sent their internal buildings assessor to oThongathi to assist in assessing and quantifying the loss the day after the storms.

“This assisted in keeping clients calm and ensuring they understood the way forward. We are also aware that service providers in that area are inundated, so we have also focused on assisting clients who had quotes from alternative providers to do the work through their preferred suppliers.”

While government departments, NGOs and community organisations try to bring relief to those affected by the storm, residents say the trauma of last week’s destruction still remains.

Khanyisile Masoka said she will never forget the trauma of last week.

“This has left a mark for life in our hearts and minds ... it has hit us in all ways possible, financially, emotionally and psychologically. I have not been able to sleep properly since the day of the tornado, and when it gets windy I am terrified,” she said.

Masoka said they lost their family tuck shop which was their only source of income. All their remaining money has gone into buying building materials to repair their home Philisiwe Mchunu said her house was entirely destroyed and she has been staying at a local community hall.

“I have nothing, not a house, no furniture, all I am wearing is all I have left. I do not think I will ever recover from this. Most nights I cry because I still cannot believe I lost everything. “I am grateful that fortunately we are still provided with meals, but I need to rebuild.

“Since the storm, we have been registering our names and I have not heard anything about the rebuilding of a house,” she said.

Zamile Luthuli said she is aware that there are families the government has identified as severely affected and need to be prioritised.

“We were all affected, it is not nice spending your nights in this hall. At night it gets very cold and we just need a bit of help with building materials so we can rebuild our homes.”

The Mercury