Risk · 4 min read
Load shedding and your insurance — what's actually covered
Surge damage, security failures and food spoilage — what your SA home and car policies do and don't cover during outages.
Quick summary
Most SA home contents policies cover power-surge damage to electronics caused by load shedding. Food spoilage, gate motor burnout and alarm failures are usually not covered unless you've taken specific add-ons.
Best for
- ·Homeowners with sensitive electronics
- ·Households running fridges and freezers full
- ·Anyone with electric gates and alarms
Watch out for
- ·'Power surge' exclusions in older policies
- ·Spoilage sub-limits as low as R2,500
- ·Alarm offline beyond 4 hours can void theft claims
Frequent questions
- Should I add 'specified items' for laptops?
- Yes if you carry them outside the home. Standard contents cover is for items inside the insured premises. Laptops, cameras, jewellery and bikes need 'all-risk' or specified-item cover to be insured anywhere in SA.
- Does my car policy cover surge damage when charging an EV?
- Most SA EV policies now include charger and battery surge damage. Always confirm with the insurer — it's a new product area and wordings vary.
Power surge
Most current SA home contents policies (Discovery, OUTsurance, Santam, Old Mutual Insure) cover power-surge damage to fitted electronics — TVs, fridges, computers — as standard. Older legacy policies sometimes exclude it. Check the schedule.
Spoilage and gate motors
Food spoilage cover is a small sub-benefit, typically R2,500–R5,000 per event, sometimes opt-in. Gate motor and alarm controller burnout is usually only covered if you have a surge protector fitted and can show it failed.
Theft during an outage
If your alarm is offline for more than 4 hours (some policies say 24 hours) during a power outage and your home is burgled, insurers may invoke the security-warranty clause. Keep your alarm battery-backed and test it quarterly.