Hijacking and what your car insurance actually covers

The short answer

If you have comprehensive motor cover, hijacking is insured. It falls under theft and is treated as a total loss, settled at the vehicle’s insured value less your excess.

If you have third-party only cover, it is not insured at all. Third party covers damage you cause to other people. It does nothing for your own vehicle, whether it is crashed, stolen or taken from you at gunpoint.

Third-party fire and theft sits between the two and does include hijacking.

Where these claims actually go wrong

Insurers pay hijacking claims routinely. When one is declined, it is almost never because hijacking was excluded. It is because a condition of the policy was not met.

The tracking device condition

Many South African policies, particularly on higher-value or high-theft vehicles, require an approved tracking device to be fitted and the subscription to be paid up. If the unit was never installed, or the monthly fee lapsed months ago, the insurer can decline. This is the single most common reason a hijacking claim fails in this country.

Check your schedule for a tracking requirement today, not after the fact. If one applies, confirm the subscription is active.

The regular driver

The policy names a regular driver, and the premium is calculated on that person’s age, licence and claims history. If a vehicle is insured in a parent’s name but a twenty-year-old drives it daily, that is material non-disclosure, and insurers do investigate after a total loss.

Where the vehicle is kept overnight

If you declared a locked garage and the vehicle is habitually left in the street, expect that to be examined. Many hijackings happen at the driveway gate, which puts the overnight parking answer directly in scope.

The SAPS case number

No insurer in South Africa will settle a hijacking claim without a police case number. Report it immediately, and get the case number and the investigating officer’s details.

What to do immediately afterwards

1. Get yourself somewhere safe. Nothing else on this list matters first.
2. Phone 10111. Report the hijacking and obtain a case number.
3. Phone your tracking company, if you have one, so recovery can begin at once.
4. Phone us, or your insurer’s claims line, on the same day.
5. Write down everything you remember while it is fresh: time, place, number of people, vehicle used, direction of travel.
6. Cancel anything that was in the car: bank cards, access tags, garage remotes. Change your house locks or gate codes if your address was in the vehicle.

What you will be paid

A hijacked vehicle is settled as a total loss at the basis of settlement in your schedule. Retail value pays roughly what the vehicle would sell for at a dealer. Market value pays somewhat less. Trade value pays least. If you still owe money on the vehicle, the settlement goes to the bank first, and any shortfall between the settlement and the outstanding finance is yours unless you hold credit shortfall cover, which is exactly why that cover exists.