If you’re one of the lucky ones who has managed to buy your own generator, your Eskom-free future might not be as bright as you’d hoped if your generator is lost, stolen or damaged.
‘If you add fuel and maintenance costs to the initial purchase price, operating a generator on a permanent basis can be a costly exercise. Hence finding out whether your generator is insured under your current policy or whether it requires separate cover could mean the difference between a bright or dark future,” says Gari Dombo, MD of Alexander Forbes Insurance.
Given that generators should be kept under a weatherproof roof, ideally without walls, in an open, well-ventilated area away from other inhabited buildings, people and equipment, there is a lot that can go wrong with them.
For example, says Dombo: ‘Housed in these conditions, generators are vulnerable to fire and damage by lightning and storm. Given their resale value, high demand and short supply, they are also obvious targets of theft.”
Furthermore, since they are switched on and off and refuelled and maintained by human beings on a daily basis, they are susceptible to accidents and mechanical or electrical breakdowns. Though most policies do not cover breakdowns, policy holders might be able to buy this as an extra.
Finally, since generators run on fuel, how much and where you plan to keep this highly flammable liquid will also influence insurance considerations.
Dombo says: ‘Strictly speaking, if the generator is bolted to a fixed foundation, it should be covered under a building or house-owner policy as a landlord’s fixture.”
Most insurers, however, consider property in an open-sided structure to be “in the open” and so deny or restrict damage by storm, fire or theft. As such, generators may well fall into a grey area when it comes to deciding cover.
On the other hand, Dombo asks: ‘If the generator is not a fixture, then is it covered by the household contents policy?” Many policies exclude cover for property not kept in an enclosed-roof building. While insurers may extend theft cover to property in the open, a lower limit usually applies.
Dombo says: ‘Policy holders who purchase generators need to find out whether their existing cover includes their generator. As mentioned, while insurers may well be able to extend existing cover to include generators, this will depend on the circumstances in which they are kept and maintained.”
Right now, however, since there is no clear-cut rule, Dombo suggests that generator owners stipulate generator cover in their policy to avoid being left in the dark.