1 reviews | Active since Sept 2018
ABSA HOME OWNER'S INSURANCE - undeniably the worst insurance in South Africa
ABSA HOME OWNER'S INSURANCE
We live in Pietermaritzburg. Our house is a beautiful original Victorian redbrick. We installed a new roof 15 years ago, it looked beautiful and glossy.
Since then we have had three severe hailstorms in our area: on the first occasion ABSA had our roof repainted, this diminished the gloss and made the roof dull and ugly.
On the second occasion (November 2020) ABSA merely authorised replacement of the gutters. The dents in the roof were not considered to "compromise the structural integrity". All around our neighbourhood roof were replaced. None compromised the structural integrity of the buildings, they just had better insurance. It is just another cop out of ABSA's.
After the most recent storm in December 2021, we finally received a written job card from the construction company on 28 January 2022. They had never set foot on the property and have not even seen the damage they are supposed to repair: While the carport roof sheets and gutters will be replaced, once again the roof has been excluded. The roof is full of dents and the sheets are no longer flush. A child can see that.
My car was written off due to the damage from that storm, incidentally, it was severe! Again, roofs all around Pietermaritzburg have been replaced. Except for the sorry sods insured by ABSA.
My emails (nine so far) go unanswered. The call centre is still "experiencing delayed response to calls due to the Covid lockdown" Really. Today I have tried calling five times. The calls are cut before I can even make a selection.
What does it take, ABSA?
I'm going to the Ombudsman.
Rezona Louw
Rezona Louw
Hello ABSA....
It's been ten weeks since I filed this complaint.
On 7 March 2022 we received the following email:
"Our Insurance department confirmed that they have not received the photos which was requested by the assessor to finalise your claim.
We will therefore be closing the file pending until we received the required information. "
We had, in fact, already submitted all the photos they had requested and the delay was on their side, not ours.
I requested they please not close the file and confirmed that everything had been submitted to them!
They agreed to open the file again and on 11 March 2022 and wrote:
"Our office received confirmation that your claims have been approved and the repairs will be done.
Based on the above our office considers the matter as resolved and will be closing the file."
It's been seven weeks, the contractor has been back, has apparently placed the order for the roof sheeting, but we wait. While we are grateful for some progress and the contractor seems professional, the job has not yet been done.
How can ABSA consider the case closed?
Only once the job has been done to our (The allegedly valued Customer) satisfaction, van the case be closed.
And to add insult to injury, on Monday we received our Policy Renewal Documents and we have been whacked with a 27% increase in premium.
TWENTY-SEVEN PERCENT INCREASE.
"At Absa, we are committed to giving you exceptional service."
On what planet can they claim commitment to good customer service?
Hello ABSA....
It's been ten weeks since I filed this complaint.
On 7 March 2022 we received the following email:
"Our Insurance department confirmed that they have not received the photos which was requested by the assessor to finalise your claim.
We will therefore be closing the file pending until we received the required information. "
We had, in fact, already submitted all the photos they had requested and the delay was on their side, not ours.
I requested they please not close the file and confirmed that everything had been submitted to them!
They agreed to open the file again and on 11 March 2022 and wrote:
"Our office received confirmation that your claims have been approved and the repairs will be done.
Based on the above our office considers the matter as resolved and will be closing the file."
It's been seven weeks, the contractor has been back, has apparently placed the order for the roof sheeting, but we wait. While we are grateful for some progress and the contractor seems professional, the job has not yet been done.
How can ABSA consider the case closed?
Only once the job has been done to our (The allegedly valued Customer) satisfaction, van the case be closed.
And to add insult to injury, on Monday we received our Policy Renewal Documents and we have been whacked with a 27% increase in premium.
TWENTY-SEVEN PERCENT INCREASE.
"At Absa, we are committed to giving you exceptional service."
On what planet can they claim commitment to good customer service?