Property insurance under threat in harsh land expropriation climate
Insurers do not cover legal expropriation done in accordance with a country’s laws
Companies and individuals in SA may find it harder to insure their properties in future as the risk of expropriation without compensation is becoming a real threat for insurers, an insurance expert said on Thursday. Insurers normally cover the risk of expropriation if it occurs through a series of cumulative acts by the government that eventually diminish the value of a person’s property. But they do not cover legal expropriation done in accordance with a country’s laws. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in July that the ANC will seek to change the constitution to explicitly allow for land expropriation without compensation. "The risk goes up. The chances of expropriation happening have become greater and I think there’s a problem. It becomes more difficult to insure," said Norton Rose Fulbright consultant Michael Chronis at an insurance seminar.
"The only chance that an insurer will have on the litigatory action will be if the law was breached and the expropriation was not ...
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