New National Assurance and Risk Guard Alliance… the start of something big

New National Assurance Company (NNAC) announced the addition of a wildlife and hospitality specialist line to their business stable which will be underwritten through NNAC’s new business partner, Risk Guard Alliance (RGA), under the brand Wildlife Insure.

RGA’s Wildlife Insure has been active in the wildlife insurance industry since 2012 and covers the mortality of wildlife including rare game such as Golden Wildebeest, sable and buffalos. They have extensive knowledge of game and insure numerous well-known farmers and breeders in the South African market.

FAnews interviewed Zach Moolman, Managing Director of RGA, about the strategic partnership they have entered into.

Big business

Breeding, buying and selling game in South Africa is big business according to Moolman, with the market investing substantial capital in this pursuit every year. “There is a very real risk for the owner, risks associated with sickness and disease, transportation and tragically, in the case of some species, risks associated with poaching. It is not uncommon for a single animal to have a value of a few million rand, and therefore the loss of just one animal could be a significant financial loss for the breeder. Insurance is the logical next step for the farmer to protect his assets,” he stated.

Moolman pointed out that in 2006, RGA launched into the hospitality market, which included a limited offering for Wildlife. “In 2012 we acquired the necessary expertise to extend that offering to a comprehensive all risks mortality product. Strategically this accomplished two objectives; our well established hospitality book would become a springboard for access to the Wildlife market and the Wildlife market would feed our hospitality book. At the time, there were only limited offerings in the market for All Risks Mortality insurance for Wildlife and from a demand perspective our timing was perfect,” Moolman said.

A unique offering

The hospitality product responds to the bespoke needs of the hospitality and tourism industry. The standard public liability cover includes, for example, an Outdoor Activities Extension, which is cover available for liability occurring as a result of horse riding, hiking, game watching activities, game drives, swimming, abseiling, diving and mountain biking, or for example the automatic inclusion of cover for reinstating or restoring of landscaped gardens and water features, and cover against the pollution of fish ponds etc.

The bespoke hospitality products and covers include:

• Innguard for hotels and conference centres;
• Guestguard for Bed and Breakfasts;
• Gameguard for game farms and game lodges;
• Dineguard for restaurants;
• Greenguard for golf courses and bowling clubs; and
• Buildguard which is an additional extension for lodges and restaurants under construction.

The Wildlife covers are more specialised, they are comprehensive, include All Risk Mortality, as well as the much needed once off covers. In summary there are four types of cover:

• Capture;
• Transport;
• Post Release Stress; and
• All Risks Mortality/Farm Cover.

Broader hospitality insurance

According to Moolman, Wildlife insurance can be purchased either as a stand-alone product or it can be coupled with the insurance of the broader hospitality insurance. “A breeder may for example only want to insure the capture and transport risk, whilst the lodge owner may want to include the insurance of a handful prized animals with insurances of his main business. On the other hand, a farmer may want to insure his entire herd, and each of these individual requirements can be catered for. For example, small antelope that are more prone to the adverse effects of being handled are more expensive to insure, while the buffalo are less expensive, because they are more resilient and stronger,” said Moolman.

“Pricing depends on various factors, such as species, colour variance, genetics and the actual value of the animal. The best approach to insuring wildlife is a close collaboration between farmer, broker and underwriter,” he concluded.

Wildlife Insure operates strictly in terms of the UMA model and is seeking to extend its reach with specialist brokers in this market.