About New National Assurance
New National Assurance began in 1930, when a Natal branch of the New India Assurance Company was established. This company was then taken over by South African ownership and was renamed the New India Assurance Company of South Africa in 1971. The company didn’t technically become New National Assurance until 1990. New National is currently headed by Mahmoud Rajab as Executive Director. According to the New National Assurance website the company is an empowered company and draws many of their shareholders and employees from previously disadvantaged communities in South Africa.
Where Are the Head Offices of the New National Assurance Company?
You will find the headquarters of New National Assurance at Field House, 25 Joe Slovo Street, Durban 4001. If you wish to contact the company by post, their mailing address is P.O. Box 1610, Durban 4001.
Which Services Do New National Provide?
New National Assurance divide their offerings into six different areas. The provide marine, commercial, engineering, takaful (insurance that abides by Islamic law), corporate and domestic insurance. On the domestic front, New National offer household, building and vehicle insurance.
Vehicle Insurance with New National Assurance
New National offer three kinds of vehicle insurance: comprehensive, third party fire and theft and third party only policies.
New National Comprehensive Insurance
A comprehensive policy will protect your vehicle against accidental damage or theft, as well as covering the costs of someone else’s vehicle if you’re involved in an accident. The main features of the policy are as follows:
- Provides third party coverage of up to R2,500,000, which can be used to pay for damage to another person’s vehicle, legal costs, injury to another or death of a third party;
- Coverage of R2,500 for vehicle towing, storage and protection;
- Includes coverage for windscreen damage, loss of keys or locking devices and remote control devices;
- Includes medical coverage should you or a passenger be injured in an accident;
- Includes R1,000 coverage for sound equipment installed in your vehicle (coverage can be increased optionally);
- Has an option to cover vehicle hire in case you are unable to use your car, though you must request this option and presumably pay higher premiums;
- Includes coverage of up to R2,000 for emergency repairs.
Third Party, Fire and Theft Insurance
The second vehicle insurance option from New National Assurance is third party, fire and theft. This kind of policy will pay out if your car is stolen or damaged by fire, but will not pay for repairs to your vehicle if you’re involved in an accident. It will, however, pay for repairs to the other person’s car if you’re in an accident. The features of this policy are:
- Includes third party coverage of up to R2,500,00, which can be used to pay for the other person’s vehicle repairs, as well as legal costs and medical costs for the other party if you’re involved in a road accident;
- Coverage for your vehicle should it be damaged by lightening, fire or explosion, or should there be a theft or attempted theft;
- Covers towing, storage and protection of your vehicle after an accident up to a maximum of R2,500;
- Includes the possibility to add car hire coverage, though presumably you will need to pay higher premiums for this.
Third Party Only Insurance from New National
Finally, the Third Party Only insurance policy from New National Assurance does not provide any coverage for your vehicle at all. This policy covers you for up to R2,500,000 which can be used to provide vehicle repair or replacement for the other party’s vehicle involved in an accident, as well as for legal costs and medical costs should a third party be injured or die.
How Are New National’s Customer Reviews?
The consumer review website Hellopeter lists 29 reviews of New National Assurance posted over the last twelve months. Compared to other insurance companies that we’ve reviewed, this is a relatively low number of reports. Of these reviews, 25 were negative, centering around poor customer service and unfulfilled claim incidents. However, we must remember that this is a small number of reviews, and that they are for all of New National’s services not just for vehicle insurance. Encouragingly, a New National Assurance representative has responded to nearly every review on Hellopeter, indicating that New National do take the time to listen to customer concerns.
How User Friendly is the New National Website?
We found the New National Assurance website to be a fairly stress free experience. It was easy to navigate and find the information that we needed, and we liked that there was a simple policy overview and then a link to much more detailed information. Plus, there were very few technical car insurance terms and definitions, so policy information was easy to understand. In fact, there is only one small improvement that we would suggest. The New National website has drop down menus, and it’s currently impossible to open a menu choice in a new tab, making page comparison tougher than it needs to be. On the whole though, New National Assurance explain their policies clearly and simply.
New National Assurance in a Nutshell
New National Assurance provide for a range of insurance options, including vehicle insurance. There are three kinds of New National insurance policies available for car owners. Consumer reviews for New National might not be impressive at first glance, but Hellopeter does only list a few reports, and New National have responded to nearly all of them. Of course, it’s always best to get two to three quotes at least before deciding on your vehicle insurance policy. Just as with everything else, you want to make sure that you get what you need at a price that’s right, and quote comparison is the only way to do this.

Main subject: New National Assurance;