Saving Account Refund

In 9 days from today 19 November 2025, it will be 12 months since I terminated my membership of Bonitas Medical aid after 4 years of membership, on 28 November 2024, effective from 1 December 2024. At this point I need to mention, I was a self-paying member, I paid quite a substantial amount every month for my Medical Aid and if I failed to pay my Medical aid contribution on the exact date it was due, my medical aid would be suspended immediately until I pay the required subscription. Why am I adding this? Simply because I feel that when I am in the wrong, I get punished by the Medical Aid immediately, but the same rules do not apply to the Medical Aid. They can be in the wrong, they can lie, They can beat around the bush, they can just ignore you...no consequences!

I receive a Membership Certificate clearly indicating my membership was Terminated. Join Date End Date 01/11/2020 30/11/2024

On submitting my notice of Termination, I receive communication on 28 November 2024 stating: Please be advised that Bonitas Medical Fund is retaining a savings credit balance in your Personal Medical Savings Account. This will take place after a waiting period of 4 months after the termination of membership or option change has been processed. This is to allow for any outstanding / late claims to be processed before savings is refunded to the member. Please complete the form and send it back with the supporting documents to fax *** or email *** to ensure that all refunds due to you are processed successfully. All supporting documents must be certified by commissioner of oath and the stamp should not be older than 3 months.

I accepted this although I knew there is no outstanding claims that could be submitted and I had no intention to submit any claims against a fund I am not a member of. I completed the required documentation and submitted the documentation required. Counting dates according to the letter I received, I worked out that the balance of my Savings account, which was around R 19000,00 will then be paid out at the end of March 2025.

I then received the same notification on 3 January 2025.

I submitted a query to clarify the situation and was informed that some of the documents I have submitted is unclear and need to be re-submitted, which I did on 3 February 2025

I enquired about the balance of my Savings account and on 6 February 2025 received a reply stating: With reference to member query Kindly be advised that your documents have been noted, your refund is due in April 2025 after termination of previous option as per scheme rules.

I was already annoyed because I expected this in March but assumed that the issue with documents not being clear contributed to this being delayed. What upset me the most was the fact that I had to enquire before I was informed of the issue with document.

End of April 2025 came and on the first day of May, I received a statement from Bonitas still reflecting the balance due. I queried this and then received communication from Bonitas stating: On 9 May I received communication from Bonitas stating: Please note that for us to process your savings refund due for payment, we require the following supporting: - Clear and Visible ID copy- the one received fails verification process. I immediately submitted my ID again as requested.

On 20 May 2025, I enquired again on the progress with the refund of my Savings account. On 28 May 2025 I received a reply stating: Thank you for submitting the documents required for your refund. Please note that your documents have been successfully vetted for the processing of your savings refund. Your refund request has been forwarded to our Finance Department for vetting and final verification.

On 30 June 2025 I send another enquiry. On 1 July,2025 I received a reply from Bonitas stating: Kindly be advised that a savings refund EFT has been prepared to refund the member an amount of R 19,159.19 this was prepared on the 31/05/2025. Please note that your query has been escalated to the finance department.

On 17 July 2025 I called Bonitas and had a telephonic discussion (of which I requested a copy of the recording, and have not received it either) trying to get an understanding of what is going on. The only answer I could get was: “ There is a backlog but it will be sorted out soon”

I have given up, trying to get an answer from Bonitas. The only deduction I can make is that they do not have the money to refund my money, why else will they not pay it out? Are there no laws regulating how Medical aids should manage Savings accounts, after all, that is money I paid to them to keep in a Savings account to cover my medical bills which I did not use. I need to elevate this issue myself. Where to next? That is my question.