Nico van Gijsen: Ja, jy kán met gemak aftree

uit Rapport van Sondag 12 Julie 2015
Om die artikel te lees, gaan na onderstaande skakel.

http://www.netwerk24.com/sake/2015-07-12-nico-van-gijsen-ja-jy-kn-met-gemak-aftree

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR WATER LEAKS?

Maintenance of a sectional title scheme can appear straightforward, but the reality is that disputes arise frequently regarding maintenance issues relating to sectional title units. This is often the result of the complex relationship of close quarter living and the shared form of ownership represented by sectional titles. Making things even more complicated is the silence of the Sectional Titles Act on many of the minor issues encountered daily in sectional title schemes. So how do you approach the maintenance issues in a sectional title scheme?
Dave owns a flat on the second floor of a sectional title scheme. There is a water leak coming from flat A above him, causing damp problems in his flat and the owner of flat A does not repair the leak. This scenario creates a flurry of questions:

• Should Dave, the owner of flat A or the body corporate repair the leak?
• Can they enter flat A, or should the owner grant them permission first?
• If the owner of flat A refuses to do the repairs or to grant access, what are they to do to stop the leak and further damage occurring?

What does the law say regarding the responsibility of parties in this scenario? Section 44(1)(a) and (c) of the Sectional Titles Act read with management rules 68-70 of the Sectional Titles Act provides that an owner must repair and maintain his section in a state of good repair. The owner must also allow a person who is authorized in writing by the body corporate to enter his section at a reasonable time and after notice was given (except in case of emergency when no notice is required) to enter the property. This will happen with the purpose to inspect, maintain, repair, or renew the pipes, wires cables, and ducts capable of being used in connection with the enjoyment of any other section or the common property.
Section 37 of the Sectional Titles Act requires the body corporate to maintain and repair the common property. Therefore, if the leak originates from the shower in flat A above, it will be the responsibility of the owner of flat A to repair the damage.
Due to the fact that the leak is caused by flat A’s shower base, and therefore forms part of his section and not the common property, it is the responsibility of the owner of the section causing the damage and the leak to repair it.
If such an owner does not repair the leak within a reasonable time as to stop further damage, the owner suffering the damage can ask the body corporate to step in and repair the leak using the same procedure as in the instance where the leak is caused by pipes forming part of the common property. The body corporate can then recover the cost of repairs from the defaulting owner.
This article is a general information sheet and should not be used or relied on as legal or other professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your legal adviser for specific and detailed advice.


SOURCE:
attorneys
http://www.visagievos.co.za/wordpress/?p=43

The importance of a valid will

It is an unfortunate fact that many people do not take time to do even the most basic form of estate planning, and according to the Master of the High court as many as 70% of all estates reported, are for people without a valid will.
Source - F.N.B. December 2014

Please contact us if you don't have a will or if you would like to change your will, especially if you have dependents. We work closely with esteemed attorneys.

Contact us for any other concerns or questions regarding your estate planning.

News letter - Dec 2014

 

 

Dear Clients and Associates                                                                                                      December 2014

2014 is quickly coming to an end and as always it is our privilege to share the highlights of our practice for the past year.

We had no retirements the past year. New clients that resigned joined us by means of referrals. A warm welcome to you, we trust we can provide the same value and build long-term relationships, as with our established clients. Thank you for your trust and support, we appreciate the referrals.

Investments/ Creation of Wealth

We are proud and thankful our investments under management have increased with 36% per annum over the past 5 years. Interest rates have increased during the past year. It is good news to investors with Money Market funds, but it puts a lot of pressure on those with debt. Money Market funds provide a current interest rate of between 5-6%, the same as South Africa’s official inflation. For this reason you should not invest excessively in these funds. Inflation is generally a lot higher in practice than the official figures indicate. Even conservative investment models perform better than Money Market funds, as illustrated in the table below.

We experienced a volatile economic climate in 2014. Economists predict further fluctuations in the market during 2015. We, therefore, advise you not to make radical short term decisions, but to stay focussed with your long-term goal in mind. The objective of our fund managers and ourselves, is to achieve fund performances equal to or greater than the respective benchmarks over a three year rolling period.

Our portfolio performances are outlined in 1 year, 3 year and 5 year terms. The growth is the average growth per annum. Money Market funds are comparable with a Conservative risk profile and JSE ALSI 40 and Satrix 40 are comparable with an Aggressive risk profile. These performances are nett of cost percentages.

Risk Profile	3 Year Rolling Benchmark	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years
Conservative	Inflation +2%	8%	10.37%	9.97%
Cautious	Inflation +3%	8.62%	11.95%	11.26%
Moderate	Inflation +5%	10.31%	14.78%	13.32%
Moderately aggressive	Inflation +7%	13.27%	19.58%	17.24%
Aggressive	Inflation +9%	13.8%	20.22%	17.88%
Money Market		5.47%	5.19%	5.6%
JSE ALSI 40		10.05%	14.52%	12.66%
SATRIX 40		10.28%	15.23%	12.67%

We are thankful and proud that the investment companies whom we invest with, operate with transparency and also provide sound practical information.

Congratulations

Congratulations to all our clients who have successfully completed their studies. We are proud of you.

Congratulations to Dillon Daniels for achieving his national colours in baseball and provincial colours in softball. To enable us to share in your success and to inspire our clients and associates, please inform us of any achievements you have earned over the past year. 

Inspiration

Two young men from Hermanus, Josh Henn and André Barnard risked their lives to save someone from drowning. Your unselfish service is an inspiration to us all. You can watch the video link:

www.nsri.org.za/2014/02/hermanus-kayak-rescue. Josh’s father, Henk, who is the chief commander of the NSRI in Hermanus, has been our client for many years.

Studies

We keep up with constant changes in the industry by attending workshops and seminars, as it is our objective to always render most appropriate and up to date service and advice to our valued clients.

Tax assessments

We registered as a tax technician with S.A.I.T. All tax assessments have already been submitted and finalised for the year. Each year S.A.R.S. becomes increasingly strict to allow deductions. Please keep your proof of payments for medical expenses for five years. Only prescribed medications and medical accounts, not recovered by the medical aid, will be considered. Should you claim a vehicle allowance, a complete log book must be submitted. Please supply your tax documentation in good time to ensure next year’s tax assessments are finalised as soon as possible.

Sad news

Our thoughts are with our clients going through a crisis, like divorce, health problems or if you were involved in an accident. Well wishes to you all. Our thoughts are also with the Koopman- and Labuschagne families who lost a family member in the past year. Piet Labuschagne was a friend of our family for more than 30 years and will be sadly missed.

Estates/Wills

Thank you to Visagie, Vos and Partners for your expertise and personalised service. As always, our clients have experienced speedy and professional finalisation of estates. A special thank you to Petri Lourens, senior legal advisor at Old Mutual, for his appropriate advice and for being readily available at all times. He always does more than is expected of him.

Short Term Insurance

A recent case study was circulated, where a client submitted a false claim and in the process the claim was denied, his short term insurance was cancelled and consequently no insurer will accept him for a new policy. Please ensure that all information you supply is true and accurate, when you apply for a new policy or submit a claim.

Our office policy is to provide the best, not necessarily cheapest, products to our clients. One of our clients had a robbery claim in 2009. Personal belongings, to the value of R97 213,53, were stolen. The client received

R14 698,33 in cash and an e-voucher for R82 515,20. During October 2014 some of the same items which were replaced in 2009, were stolen again. The client requested a cash settlement and received an amount of R40 723. This proves that clients should remain with established insurers.

Please inform us if you are not satisfied with your premium or service, to enable us to address the problem, instead of just changing to a different service provider without our knowledge. In most cases we are able to provide a solution to the problem.

Statistics confirm that traditional insurers maintain at least a 70% claim payment ratio, compared to the 52% of direct insurers. Please ensure that you have sufficient insurance coverage at all times. Replacement values of buildings and house contents, as well as the book values of vehicles, must be adjusted annually. 

For enquiries during the Festive season when our office is closed:

Mutual & Federal clients                    Tel: 021-506 0100 (Claims)

Tel: 0860 247 365 (After hours emergencies)

                                                            Tel: 0860 637 373 (Enquiries)

Santam                                              Tel: 0860 505 911 (Claims and after hours emergencies)

Tel: 0860 726 826 (Enquiries and amendments)

Auto & General                                  Tel: 021-527 8666 (All claims, enquiries and amendments)                                                                            Tel: 0860 104 210 (After hours emergencies)

Life cover/ disability/ trauma benefits and claims

We do not promote certain companies’ products, for ethical reasons and can proudly confirm that not one of our clients have had a claim rejected yet. The insurance companies have certain requirements which have to be met, specifically for trauma and disability claims.

Please, therefore, be patient and provide the necessary prescribed documentation, to prevent unnecessary delays and ensure the process runs smoothly. We determine the risk cover by means of a Financial Need’s Analysis (F.N.A.), which must be reviewed annually to provide for continual change in financial circumstances.

Non-smokers can save up to 40% on their insurance premiums. Our client, Henk Henn, saved R2 000 per month when his status changed from smoker to non-smoker. He encourages all smokers to quit. Thank you Henk for setting an example.

There are fantastic new Retirement Annuities available, which provide an additional bonus on the fund value. Please contact us for a proposal. We will also review all clients’ individual situation at their revision appointments.

Revision Appointments

Thank you to all our clients who always make time for their biannual or annual appointments. It is important to us and we are bound by our service agreement with you to review your portfolios and financial needs, to make adjustments in an ever-changing environment. It is especially important that we review the portfolio of each of our investment clients and adjust it according to each client’s individual risk profile.

Please inform us, before an appointment, if your situation has changed in any way or if you have any specific queries, to enable us to do the necessary preparation prior to the appointment. Please also check your bank statements, or ask us for help, to ensure there were no unwanted payments done without your knowledge.

Website

Please visit our website: www.tvzfinancialservices.co.za and comment on our Facebook page. Thank you to Tina Vlok from www.berryweb.co.za who designed our webpage and still provides continuous support.

Thank you for the feedback from clients, your feedback helps us to improve our service. 

Behind the scenes

We have worked closely with a big pension fund the past few years and have designed different risk profiles for the employees. Thank you for the positive feedback.

We also receive positive feedback regarding our improved Financial Needs Analysis (F.N.A.) programme, as well as the new investment spreadsheet indicating Rand values nett of costs.

Unfortunately there are still “unethical” advisors who target pension funds of clients, provide unfounded advice and transfer policies without good reason. The Financial Services Board (F.S.B.) has published its principals to limit malpractice. We fully support the suggestions to be enforced for a professional industry.

Compliance

Masthead is still the biggest network for brokers and we work closely to improve our industry continuously. Thank you to Herman Hesse, our compliance officer, who handles our compliance on a quarterly basis.

Thank you to Anzel Jewaskiewitz, our practice manager. We are especially proud of our business development report where we achieved 96% and for the first time 100% for Client Fulfillment.

Personal

Our daughter, Kirsten, was employed this year to scan old documentation on our electronic system. The project was completed successfully and she is currently working in America. For the first time in 33 years our van Zyl household is childless. Elmarie, who handles the short term insurance, will be working again in the mornings from 8:00 – 13:00 next year. Elmarie has been with our business the past 15 years and Janneri will be at Toni van Zyl Financial Services for 10 years in January 2015. Thank you, we appreciate your dedication and professionalism.

Thank you to all our clients for your contribution towards our growing business each year. We are positive and look forward to 2015 with all its challenges.

Our office will close on 19 December and re-open on 5 January 2015. We look forward to the break.

Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year!

Kind regards

From all of us at Toni van Zyl Financial Services