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Cape Town - What appears to be an increase in kidnappings for ransoms in SA, highlights the need for businesses to be more informed about kidnap insurance, according to Mandy Rutter, head of liability: kidnap and ransom at SHA Specialist Underwriters.
“Kidnapping is a ‘growing practice’ on the African continent. Most governments are against negotiating with terrorist organisations or hostage takers and will not pay a ransom," said Rutter.
"So it is increasingly important for businesses with operations in Africa to protect their employees given the fluid or volatile nature of the political situations in certain territories."
In her view, many businesses are either not aware of the existence of kidnap and ransom insurance or about which types of organisations' employees are most vulnerable to kidnapping.
“The organisations most vulnerable to kidnapping are those with employees travelling overseas, however, high profile or status employees, those who work with sensitive information as well as technology and or large amounts of money, are also at a heightened risk of being kidnapped,” she added.
She emphasised that the aim of a kidnap insurance policy is not to encourage or condone kidnapping, but to reimburse the loss incurred by the insured. Kidnap and ransom insurance policies do not pay ransoms on behalf of the insured, however, the insured can seek reimbursement under the policy once ransom has been paid.
In addition to the reimbursement of ransom monies, kidnap and ransom insurance also covers the destruction, loss, confiscation or wrongful appropriation of money intended to be utilised as ransom money while in transit to the kidnapper, the costs incurred in attempting to mitigate physical disfigurement or emotional harm suffered as a result of a kidnapping as well as judgements and legal expenses incurred by the insured company due to legal action taken by the kidnap victim or his/ her family as a result of the kidnapping.
“The proper management of a kidnapping by highly trained individuals is essential to protecting the life or well-being of the victim, as well as the organisation’s assets,” said Rutter.
“If the family is contacted, they will most likely know who to contact at the company and the policy will be kicked into action. The negotiators will generally not contact the kidnappers directly, they will instead guide the family member’s or company’s representative through the negotiation process."
The hostage takers should not become aware that they are speaking to expert negotiators as this may provide them with an indication that there is insurance cover in place and may cause the ransom demands to increase.
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