"When it came to vehicle insurance it was amazing how many people drove unlicensed, drunk or with worn tires, failed to renew their vehicle tracker contract or claimed security they did not have, Dombo said in a statement. When it came to home contents, the biggest reason claims were not paid out was because of a malfunctioning alarm," he added.

"If an alarm does not work because it is poorly maintained, the monitoring contract has been allowed to expire, or it is not switched on when the home is left unattended, your insurer is unlikely to pay," Dombo said.

Another cause for rejecting home contents claims is that insured parties sometimes do not have the protection and security equipment that they claimed on their proposal form. These include burglar bars, electric fences, or security gates on all doors.

With building insurance the most common cause of claim failure was lack of maintenance, making certain types of building damage inevitable. "Roofs collapse because timbers have rotted, tiles blow off because their nails have rusted through, gutters silt up causing walls to become damp and waterproofing is allowed to deteriorate causing water damage," Dombo said.

Source: Business Day