4X4 Insurance

Although your 4x4 may be capable of going off-road, it’s not immune to accidental damage. In fact, given the nature of 4x4 vehicles and off-road driving, they require special 4x4 insurance to cater for the increased risk of accidental damage and other perils unique to such driving conditions. Typical 4x4 insurance covers your off-road vehicle for the same perils as on-road vehicles, namely cover for theft, hijacking, damage caused to third-parties as well as certain natural disasters, and cover for perils specific to off-road.

Accidental damage for off-road use is only covered under a 4x4 insurance policy. Your insurer may require the driver to obtain a special driving permit to include accidental cover. Insurers will also stipulate the conditions of the accidental damage.  On top of this, 4x4 insurance includes the following types of cover:

Breakdown

Whether mechanical or electrical, 4x4 insurance covers your vehicle and watercraft of breakdown in territories covered under the insurance policy. This includes the anti-theft device. If the vehicle is outside of South Africa when assistance is required, additional costs of labour and airborne technical assistance may be charged. Often mechanical and electrical breakdown on 4x4 insurance is limited to a certain amount and the rest is covered by the insured.

Emergency costs

Usually, 4x4 insurance includes a measure of emergency cover such as medical insurance. Although not complete health cover, 4x4 medical insurance may include repatriation, transportation and inter-hospital transfers. If medical assistance is not required, the cover may include emergency accommodation outside the country (usually up to a certain amount per person per day per incident). Emergency repairs may have to be conducted on the vehicle to make it drivable.

Repatriation

As off-road enthusiasts often take their vehicles out of the country, cover includes repatriation of the vehicle and individuals up to a set amount and as a result of insurable perils. (That is, the vehicle and individuals will only be repatriated if the damaged vehicle or injured persons resulted from an insurable peril.) South African i4x4 insurance covers most SADC countries, namely Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Angola, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Note: your insurer may require you to take out third party insurance in specific countries at their border-posts.