http://www.valuecard.co.za/ ValueCard en-us http://www.valuecard.co.za/images/vc_print.jpg http://www.valuecard.co.za/ support@valuecard.co.za http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=71 Fraud is a major problem in both short-term insurance and life assurance. Although most of the fraud is perpetrated by policyholders, it is not unknown for fraud to be perpetrated against policyholders (see “Unauthorised policies a trap for the unwary”, below). And fraud also takes place with service providers, particularly in the short-term industry, when claims are processed. Life assurance fraud has become so attractive that, increasingly, crime syndicates are also involved. Perpetrating fraud is simply not worthwhile. Both the short-term insurance and life assurance industries are strengthening their forensic departments. The companies also increasingly share information where they suspect all is not well. This means there is an ever greater chance of fraudsters being caught. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=72 The next time your insurer replaces or pays you out for damaged property, don’t dispose of or sell the damaged property until you’ve checked your policy – for it may no longer be yours. Damaged property that your insurer replaces or for which you successfully claim is known as “salvage” and becomes the property of the insurer. Since the insurer is effectively absorbing the loss, it has rights to damaged property it has covered and can legally sell this property to defray costs. “If you dispose of the salvage you’re preventing the insurer from exercising that option,” Gari Dombo, the managing director of Alexander Forbes Insurance, says. Another reason salvaged goods are often required by insurers is to check that your claim is valid and that the cause of damage is covered in your policy. If you dispose of or abandon the damaged property before the insurer has been able to check it you may have your claim rejected, or be required to reimburse your insurer for the salvage, Dombo warns. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=70 WILLEM Smith, CEO of the direct short-term insurer iWYZE, tells a true story of a client who tried to claim insurance for a stolen vehicle he had never owned, but for which he had been paying premiums for six months. When the insurer decided to investigate — as is standard procedure before a claim is processed — shocking facts emerged. The client could not produce the sale agreement. Nor could he locate the ignition key of the "stolen" vehicle. He claimed to have misplaced the keys. To cut a long story short, he admitted he had been caught out. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=69 Cash-strapped and desperate, many South Africans are reporting false hijackings, housebreakings and other theft claims in order to get rid of their monthly repayments and be paid out by insurance companies for the allegedly stolen goods. Insurance investigators report that there has been an increase in the number of people staging housebreakings to make extra money from insurance policies or claiming their vehicles were hijacked or stolen because they could no longer afford them. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=68 After 6 years at our previous premises ValueCard has moved offices and our new contact details are as following: Tel: (021) 852-5420 Fax: 086-680-1401 (unchanged) Physical address: 10 Hole in the Wall 93 Main Road co Main and Fagan Road Somerset West 7130 Postal address: PO Box 1250 Somerset West 7129 If you are in the area please stop by for a coffee and do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=67 The insurance industry is looking to establish an insurance crime bureau, the South African Insurance Association (SAIA) has revealed in its latest newsletter. It said that the ICB would not replace existing investigative units in member companies but would only become involved when more than one company was involved, serial offenders were identified and the involvement of organised crime was identified. The investigative units of individual companies would remain in place to investigate member specific fraud and crime, it added. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=66 ValueCard have upgraded our systems to ensure that clients receive the expected performance while supporting the increased growth. This essential work is part of our ongoing efforts to improve our systems and will lead to a number of exciting service developments we plan to announce in the very near future. If you are not able to access the new systems please ask your system administrator to provide access to the new IP addresses. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=65 South Africa has approved codes to monitor whether companies vying for state contracts are complying with guidelines to redress apartheid imbalances by empowering blacks, an official said on Thursday. The codes set out scorecards against which companies will be measured in areas such as black ownership and skills development if they wanted to qualify for government contracts, government spokesperson Themba Maseko said. The codes were approved at the cabinet's fortnightly meeting on Wednesday and will come into effect early next year, he said. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=64 ValueCard has been nominated as an established Technology Top 100 qualifier for our innovation in the procurement industry. Last year ValueCard also received this prestigious award in the emerging category. TT100 is the foremost business excellence awards programme in South Africa. It is a national programme that acknowledges the success that businesses enjoy through their development and use of technology. More importantly, it encourages, measures and honours these organisations for the value their use of technology brings to the South African economy. Technology Top 100 is sponsored by Da Vinci, ESKOM and the Department of Science and Technology. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=63 ACCORDING TO criminal justice experts from the UKs Loughborough University, the Nokia 6230 was the most-stolen phone in Britain. However, the researchers can not yet compose a risk index. That is because they don not have access to actual handset sales figures. So they have to guess that the Nokia is probably a best seller. Mobile currently rates the 6230i as the ninth best selling handset on contract. What they really need is historical sales figures. Anyway, it's no surprise to find that the Samsung D500 was the second most and the Motorola Razr the third most stolen handset. The statistics, analysis of 112,093 crimes in London last year, are believed to be the first attempt to draw up a mobile theft index similar to lists for cars and bikes. Curiously, despite the Razr's third ranking, more Sony Ericssons were stolen in total than Motorolas. The INQ feels that the figures merely suggest what handsets poseurs purchase the most. Those Sony Ericssons were probably W800 Walkman phones. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=62 THE Office of the Ombudsman for Short-term Insurance has seen a rise in complaints from policyholders in 2006 ? partly due to problems where claims are not paid because insurers say incorrect information was supplied. Many people are shocked when making a claim to find they are not covered, yet more often than not it iss because they did not provide relevant information at the outset. You can avoid having to complain to the ombudsman by sticking to this list of basic dos and donts for policyholders: http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=61 Cape Town developed TenderSystem, was nominated as a SourceForge.net Community Choice Awards finalist out of 1400 active financial projects. TenderSystem is an Internet based system to source, award and manage the total procurement process and was open sourced in June 2005. ValueCard (Pty) Ltd, developed TenderSystem in 2002 and has become the de facto insurance procurement system in Southern Africa allowing insurance companies to decrease their largest expense, namely claims payments. Since open sourcing TenderSystem it has spread into many other industries and set its target on large industrial and government purchases. This sector understands the process and benefits achievable by sourcing through reverse auction but are hindered by the large administrative costs associated with managing a tender. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=60 It is fraudulent to lie to your insurer - no matter how small or insignificant you may consider the lie to be - and if you are caught out, don not be surprised if your entire claim is rejected. Helm van Zijl, the Ombudsman for Short-term Insurance, begins his annual report with a quote by the Roman jurist Domitus Ulpian: "No one is allowed to improve his own condition by his own wrongdoing." This rather poetically sums up the ombudsman's opinion of fraud, which is further pronounced by the case studies that he highlights in his annual report for 2005. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=59 ValueCard has upgraded TenderSystem and will decommission the current system over the next few weeks. Insurance companies have successfully concluded 8300 tenders, while saving over R2m in the process, since it's launch in August 2002. ValueCard started developing the new system in January 2005 and open sourced the development process in July to ensure a world class system. Since being open sourced it has been downloaded over 3 800 times, translated into 6 languages and is currently in the top 1% out of 110 000 projects hosted at SourceForge.net. Clients and suppliers will benefit implementing the new system due to the additional features and usability improvements. TenderSystem is now also modular based so it will not have to replaced in the future and will just be upgrading as required. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=58 Not too long ago, electronics buyers viewed reverse auctions strictly as a way to get lower prices from suppliers. Today they see it as a time-saving tool that lets them focus on supplier quality issues, vendor-managed inventory programs, and contract negotiations. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=57 Over 10 000 notebook computers are stolen each year in SA, and corporates are the worst affected, says David Marshall, CEO of security firm Marshall International. advertisement Click here He says the 10 000 figure is based on feedback from the market and customers. ?It is an estimate, as no accurate figures exist, but the problem is enormous, as is the case with cellphone theft.? Laurika Moller, BMI-TechKnowledge division manager for marketing, says the research firm does not keep track of stolen goods figures. However, 90 000 notebook units per quarter are shipped in SA, she adds. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=56 ValueCard was selected as a finalist in the 2005 Emerging Technology Top 100 awards, for TenderSystem?s innovation of the procurement process. Technology Top 100 is South Africa?s foremost business excellence awards programme. Emerging TT100 is a separate section of the program that caters for the unique needs and attributes of companies that are in the start-up phase, not having been in operation for more than 3 years. TenderSystem was developed in 2002 and is currently used by insurance companies in Southern Africa to decrease their largest expense, namely claim payments. This is achieved by leveraging the age-old principle of supply and demand, through reverse auction, to ensure that claims are settled at the best possible suppliers, resulting in audited savings in excess of 20%. ValueCard released TenderSystem as an open source project at SourceForge.net in July 2005, to replicate the success into other industries. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=55 ValueCard, replacement service provider for the insurance industry, today announced it has teamed up with Clickatell, the leading global messaging gateway, to provide a real time insurance procurement service. ValueCard has integrated Clickatell?s SMS gateway service into its open source TenderSystem software to allow immediate claims quotations on the move. TenderSystem is an Internet-based system that sources, awards and manages the total procurement process. Users request quotes from suppliers who then tender for the business via reverse auction. The addition of Clickatell?s SMS functionality means that quotes can be submitted in real time, decreasing the tender period to less than two hours, ensuring that suppliers do not miss any opportunities. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=53 LGI Risk Management is committed to providing superior service and is therefore continuously investigating methods to enhance our clients? experience. One of the most critical parts of our business is the claims process and will therefore pilot ValueCard TenderSystem. The pilot project will be conducted during August and September enabling LGI Risk Management to determine the benefits achievable by sourcing and replacing products electronically. ValueCard is pleased that LGI Risk Management are testing TenderSystem and convinced that it will enable them to decrease their replacement costs substantially. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=51 TenderSystem is an Internet based system to source, award and manage the complete procurement process. This tried and tested technology leverages the age-old principle of supply and demand, through reverse auction, ensuring that products are purchased at the best possible price, at a lower administration and management cost, than any other method. Insurance Companies have been settling claims successfully through TenderSystem during the last 3 years, achieving audited savings of 20%. TenderSystem is released under a dual license, namely TenderSystem Public License (TPL) for TenderSystem OS and a commercial license for TenderSystem PRO that includes additional features. What is open source? Open-source software has freely available source code, which lets anybody download, view and alter the software. This project development process ensures that there are more developers working simultaneously on the software thereby increasing the functionality while lowering the development cost. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=52 THE jury is still out on the question of whether e-mailed or faxed responses to tenders should be accepted. Robin Scott of Somerset West believes ?it obviously depends on the company requesting the tender?. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=50 UICS (Ultimate Insurance Corporate Services) are busy testing TenderSystem in a pilot project to determine the benefits achievable in a loss adjusting environment. ValueCard is pleased that UICS are testing TenderSystem and convinced that it will enable them to decrease their clients replacement costs substantially. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=49 ABSA Insurance is committed to providing superior service and is therefore continuously investigating methods to enhance our clients? experience. One of the most critical parts of our business is the claims process and will therefore pilot ValueCard TenderSystem. The pilot project will be conducted during May and June enabling ABSA Insurance to determine the benefits achievable by sourcing and replacing products electronically. ValueCard is pleased that ABSA Insurance are testing TenderSystem and convinced that it will enable them to decrease their replacement costs substantially. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=48 Banking and shopping online saw the largest increases for Internet usage in SA last year, says survey firm Webchek. Webchek, a division of Cape Town-based Research Surveys, completed its seventh annual South African Web user survey in November. The survey polls 400 randomly selected users around the country, giving a 95% confidence in the sample to measure Internet usage trends. http://www.valuecard.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=47 Short-term insurance claims can now be settled electronically in Namibia after Riviera Business Consultants licensed ValueCard?s TenderSystem. TenderSystem is a web based electronic solution to source, procure and manage personal line claims. Sam Kaulinge, Riviera?s Chairman said that the timing could not be better for insurance companies to streamline their claims process due to increased Internet access. We evaluated numerous procurement solutions and it became evident that TenderSystem is the only solution capable of decreasing an insurer?s claims expense while improving client service. Insurance companies have also realised that the old method of dragging out a claim resolution, to generate additional interest, is destructive in such a service-orientated environment. The alternative option, cash settlements, is just as damaging to an insurer?s claims frequency as client fraud increases. After successful completion we will roll out TenderSystem in the rest of Africa, starting with Botswana. TenderSystem uses SMS?es in innovative ways that it is possible to settle claims in areas with low telecommunication density. For further information please visit www.valuecardnamibia.com.