Unhappy client

I would like to raise my unhappiness regarding how my insurance policy was handled when I moved my vehicle cover. In 2025, I purchased a brand new bakkie and insured it with Budget Insurance, where I received a very competitive quote that included no excess on the vehicle. I accepted this offer and had the vehicle insured with Budget for approximately one month. Thereafter, I contacted Auto & General to move all my insurance products (including home and vehicle insurance) to one provider for convenience. During this process, I was informed by the consultant that Budget Insurance and Auto & General fall under the same umbrella, and I was encouraged to rather keep everything with Auto & General. Based on this explanation and the fact that I was happy with Auto & General, and the impression that the offering would be the same as Budget, I agreed to move my vehicle and home insurance to Auto & General. My understanding and expectation at the time was that the terms would remain consistent, specifically that the policy would carry no excess, as was the case with Budget. Recently, I was involved in a minor incident with my bakkie and have now been informed that I am liable to pay an excess. This has come as a complete surprise and does not align with what I reasonably believed I was agreeing to when the policy was sold to me. While I acknowledge that the consultant verbally mentioned the excess during the call, I believe the manner in which the policy was presented — particularly the emphasis on both companies being under the same umbrella and “similar” — created a strong and reasonable expectation that the cover would match what I previously had with Budget. I feel that this situation is unfair especially since I do not have the excess money, as I was effectively persuaded to move from a policy with no excess to one with an excess. I kindly request that: • Consideration be given to waiving the excess on this claim, given the expectations created during the sales process I have been a responsible client and insured my vehicle immediately after purchase, and I believe this matter deserves fair resolution. I look forward to your response.