More than just insurance

With a vehicle stolen or hijacked in South Africa every four minutes, local motorists need all the precautionary cover they can get. Bidvest Insurance has launched TheftBuster, which gives owners access to substantial benefits in the event of a vehicle theft.

“If a vehicle is stolen or hijacked, TheftBuster provides cover for the insurance excess and it pays towards other items that may have been stolen along with the vehicle. Items such as home or office keys and remotes are covered, for instance, as are the costs of replacing identity or driving licences. We also cover car hire,” explains Phil Donnelly, executive head of sales and marketing at Bidvest Insurance.

Should the stolen vehicle not be recovered, TheftBuster will pay R6 000 towards the victim’s replacement vehicle if it’s purchased through an approved dealership. On the other hand, if it is recovered, TheftBuster will have it sent for a full professional interior and exterior valet.

Being an event of such a traumatic nature, victims of theft and, especially, hijacking, suffer psychological and emotional effects. TheftBuster provides coverage for counselling for the owner of the car, members of his or her immediate family as well as any authorised driver.

“I’ve been on the receiving end of a hijacking so I can tell you that trauma counselling is a must. It helped me, my wife and my children, who were all affected, which is why we also pay for trauma counselling,” Donnelly says.

“As a responsible company, we can’t stop crime, but we’d like to assist the victims and turn an unpleasant situation into a less stressful one. We believe that TheftBuster is ideally positioned to do just that,” concludes Donnelly.