Affinity Underwriting Managers

DELAYED INSURANCE CLAIM AND POOR CLAIMS HANDLING

At the beginning of June 2025, I separated from my husband and moved to Midrand to stay with my uncle. As a result, I had to commute daily between Midrand and Pretoria for work. Due to challenges with using public transport, my mother, who is a pensioner, purchased a small vehicle for me to use. When purchasing insurance for the vehicle, Affinity Underwriting Managers (Pty) Ltd was one of the recommended insurers. Based on my mother's age and my son's age, we decided to insure the vehicle with them as they were also cheaper. On 30 April 2026, my son was involved in a motor vehicle accident. According to him, another driver made an ******* U-turn and collided with our vehicle, causing damage to the fender. The other driver subsequently fled the scene. My son immediately contacted me, and I called the insurer for assistance. We were instructed not to make use of any towing service other than the one appointed by the insurer. We comp**** with this instruction, and the vehicle was towed to Cornright Motors on 30 April 2026, where it remains to date. Following the accident, my son reported the matter to the Midrand Police Station and opened a case, as required. The case number is 647/04/2026. The insurer informed us that an assessor/investigator had been appointed on 8 May 2026 and that the report would be submitted within ten working days. The tenth working day fell on 22 May 2026. However, when we contacted the insurer on 25 May 2026 and followed up via email, we were informed that the report had still not been submitted. The assessor subsequently advised that there were various issues delaying the report, including attempts to trace the owner or driver of the third-party vehicle. Thereafter, the assessor contacted my son and asked several questions, including: The mileage of the vehicle when we acquired it; The purpose of his trips to Mpumalanga, based on information obtained from a tracking report; His destination on the day of the accident; Why he had not obtained the details of the other driver who fled the scene. The assessor also contacted my mother and asked similar questions, including where we were residing at the time of the accident and when we had started living there. These questions appeared unrelated to the circumstances of the accident and raised concerns that the investigation was focused on finding reasons to repudiate the claim rather than assessing the merits of the incident itself. On 27 May 2026, I sent a further email expressing my dissatisfaction with the delays and lack of communication. I also advised that, should there be no progress, I would consider referring the matter to the Ombudsman. The following day, I received an email stating that the report had finally been submitted and that the file had been forwarded to the insurer for approval. We were informed that the final documentation would be provided once the insurer had completed its review. It has now been over one month since the claim was lodged, yet we still have no clear indication of the outcome of the claim, the reasons for the extensive delay, or when the matter will be finalized. During this period, the vehicle has remained at the repair facility, causing significant inconvenience and uncer*****y. I believe that we have cooperated fully throughout the claims process and have comp**** with all requirements requested by the insurer. I am concerned that the handling of this claim has fallen short of the standards of service that policyholders are entitled to expect. We hereby request assistance in finding out why is this claim taking so long to be processed. This is not the first time we insure a car, especially my mother but it has never taken this long for claim to be processed.