Old Mutual Home Insurance Review

Written by Better Insurance
Feb 16, 2024

Old Mutual Home Insurance at a Glance

Buildings and Home Contents insurance tailored to you
Access to 24/7 emergency assistance and trusted tradesmen
Covers accidental damage, loss, theft, and natural disasters

4.02

What we like:

Old Mutual has tailored its home insurance offering to the South African market in terms of coverage options and additional cover options. The coverage is flexible and covers a wide variety of items both in terms of buildings insurance and home contents insurance. The policy also includes access to an emergency assistance service and Old Mutual's trusted tradesmen to make your life easier.

Best for:

Old Mutual home insurance is best suited to existing Old Mutual customers, or people who want to be able to manage their home and car insurance policies more efficiently and conveniently. Consumers who want comprehensive coverage and know exactly what they want to be covered will stand to benefit the most from this policy.

Pros

Conveniently cover your property, home and car under one policy
Cover for damage due to power surges available

Cons

Few opportunities to earn discounts

Home is where the heart is! Whether it’s the physical structure or the items inside, any damage or theft can seriously set you back financially. Protect your home and all its contents with a home insurance policy from Old Mutual.

What Makes Old Mutual Home Insurance Different?

Also known as ‘Allsure’, having an insurance policy from Old Mutual allows you to consolidate your major insurance needs under one policy. Allsure encompasses buildings, home contents, vehicles, and personal liability insurance. This makes it easier to keep track of paperwork, payments, and other important financial information.

Old Mutual Home Insurance Coverage Options and Benefits

Building Insurance

Old Mutual building insurance covers the physical structures and permanent fixtures located on your property. This refers to privately owned property used for domestic/residential use only, including your main home, any outhouses, driveways, walls and gates. It also includes carports/garages, service lines such as your water pipes, electrical connections sewage, and any other permanent additions to your property.

Your level of coverage depends on the type of policy you have taken out, however, Old Mutual generally covers consumers for loss or damage to the property. This includes cover for accidental damage due to fire, lightning or explosions, as well as earthquakes. In the case of other natural disasters such as storms, floods, heavy wind, hail or snow, consumers are not covered for rising dampness or movement of land. Malicious damage is also covered as long as the person who causes the damage is not a permanent resident of the property.

Home Contents Cover

Old Mutual offers cover for the valuable items in your home. This includes cover for all furniture, appliances, entertainment units, and decorative items. You can even cover items such as DVDs and CDs and throws/cushions. The Old Mutual webpage has a handy tool for consumers to input the value of their items per room so you can accurately estimate the value of your contents.

When deciding on the value of the items you want to insure, you want to take into account the current replacement value and not the amount of money you initially paid for the items. For example, the price of a fridge ten years ago is significantly less than the current price of a fridge.

Similarly, if you are looking to insure particularly valuable items such as artwork, fine china, or collectable items, it is worth having the item appraised. While it may mean paying more in premiums, accurately recording the cost of an item means that you will be able to replace it more easily after a claim.

Full Cover Vs Limited Cover

The main difference between these coverage options is that full cover includes damages and loss due to theft or attempted theft, whilst limited cover does not. The full cover is further split into two categories. South African consumers can choose between ‘full cover including subsidence or landslip’ and ‘full cover excluding subsidence or landslip’. The only difference between these two types of cover is that the latter does not include damage due to the movement of the land under your property during any insured events.

Optional extras

Old Mutual has tailored its insurance policies to the South African market with its optional extra offerings. Consumers can add on cover for power surges. This only covers accidental changes in supply from a public supply authority such as your local municipality or Eskom.

When claiming for damages to your home due to a power surge, you should be aware of the maximum amount you are covered for and the excess amount you will need to pay to Old Mutual first. These are both stated in your policy schedule.

Pricing and Discounts of Old Mutual Home Insurance

The pricing of your Old Mutual Home insurance premiums and excess payments will depend on the amount of coverage you have chosen. In addition to the cover amount, premiums are dependent on the risk profile of consumers. In this case, this includes the crime statistics of your neighbourhood, previous claims/incidents on the property, and the level of existing security measures on the property.

Old Mutual customers should also take into account the fact that their home insurance offerings are a part of the ‘Allsure’ policy. There are specific discounts for customers who add on car insurance to their policy. Old Mutual also offers usage based insurance (UBI) which includes a discount of up to 30% for customers who drive less.

Where Old Mutual Home Insurance Can Improve

There are several terms and conditions that apply to successfully claim from your Old Mutual policy. Some of these clauses may not be apparent when taking out the policy, and consumers need to take the time to under their policy schedule and the circumstances under which they can and cannot claim from their insurer. For example, whilst Old Mutual states that accidental damage to your property is covered under their Buildings insurance policy, consumers may not be aware that damages that occur during renovations are not covered.

Additionally, whilst Old Mutual is a trusted household name in South Africa, its customer service can stand to improve. The Old Mutual Insure division only ranks 2.69 out of a possible 5 stars on hellopeter.com. The lowest-scoring reviews generally complain of the lengthy and difficult claims process. All in all, this suggests that existing and potential customers can benefit greatly from simply presented information on the claims process and what exactly is covered in their policy.

How to Request a Quote for Old Mutual Home Insurance

Input your name and contact number on the Old Mutual Home Insurance webpage for a consultant to call you back.
Call 0860 22 55 63 to speak to an Old Mutual consultant
Call 0860 63 73 73 to speak to an Old Mutual broker/advisor

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