Page 78 - Hollard Private Portfolio - Version 3.5

76 Hollard Private Portfolio – Version 3.5 – 7 May 2024
Personal liability
Key terms to understand
Accident An incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally at an identifiable time and
place. Accidental has a similar meaning.
Bodily injury Physical injury to a person’s body caused by accidental, external and visible means.
Domestic employee People employed by you at your home, such as cleaning staff, nannies, au pairs, drivers
and gardeners.
Period of insurance Any period of time for which you have paid the premium.
Risk address The South African address at which your home is situated, as shown in your policy
schedule for Buildings or Household contents (depending on your cover under this
policy).
You Includes yourself, your spouse and any members of your immediate family who normally
reside with you and are financially dependent on you. Where applicable, ‘you’ also
includes a co-insured as shown in your policy schedule as long as the co-insured normally
resides with you.
Liability Refers to when you can be held legally liable to pay damages arising out of any event, not
otherwise excluded under this section.
Paying guest A guest who stays in the building for a short period, without a contract in exchange for
a fee.
Tenant A person who signed a rental agreement to live in the building for a set period. This
includes sub-tenants.
The increasing cost of negligence
In today’s world, people are more and more aware of their "rights". They will often not hesitate to sue you for loss or
damage which they believe is due to your negligence.
Typical examples include your dog biting a passer-by, or a braai in your backyard starting a fire that burns your
neighbour’s house down.
Your legal liability
○ This section covers you if you are held legally responsible by a court of law for causing damage to a person’s
property or causing injury or death to that person. This is called legal liability. The law allows three years from
the date that the other person became aware of the event, for that person to make a claim against you.
○ The event causing the liability claim must have happened during your period of insurance.
Causes of liability
The following are all possible causes which can lead to a liability claim being made against you:
○ Accidental death, bodily injury or illness.
○ Accidental loss of property.
○ Accidental damage to property.
○ Emergency medical expenses that you have to pay after accidental bodily injury to another person, but only if
you are legally liable to pay the expenses and it is not covered by another insurance policy.
If there is more than one person making a liability claim against you, resulting from the same event, we will treat all
claims as if they were first made against you on the date of the event leading to the claims against you.