Don't Switch

On the 21st of November I had the unfortunate and common experience of one of my vehicle's being ******, a Hyundai H100, which was driven by the driver of the person I had contracted with. However, thanks to the exceptional work of Tracker the vehicle was recovered in a fairly decent state, with a dent on the one drop side, missing car keys and ****** car battery as the noticeable damage and issues.

In the midst of all this drama, seeking direction and a way forward, I called my insurer, Budget Business Insurance whom I had recently switched to recently after one of their agents had made a compelling sales pitch.

The first call centre agent I spoke too, when reporting this incident, took this opportunity to remind me about the cash back benefits I would forfeit if I claimed, which infuriated me because I was seeking assistance with the problem I had, rather than silly cash back reward programs. None the less after speaking to my son whom I gave the phone too, as I was too annoyed to deal with such a person, the agent requested the contact details and information of the driver, which we provided. We then realised that the driver of the vehicle had his phone ****** when the hijacking happened and so we called again to provide Budget with a contact number on which he could be contacted on.

After this initial contact it took Budget four days for them to contact me, after having escalated the claim internally at Budget, where somebody from the complaints department apologized for the delays and explained to me that I was not their only client. She then assigned an agent who would assist with the claim moving forward. It took about another two weeks for them to assist in the collection of my vehicle from the Isipingo police pound in Durban, to their assessment centre in Durban Central, after I came back down to Durban to speed the process up. After almost six weeks they rejected the claim, and offered me 48 hours within which they would tow the vehicle to the address of my choosing.

Budget rejected my claim on the following grounds:

I did not update my policy; and

The insured vehicle was being used for hiring - this does not form part of the scope of cover provided by your policy. The risks associated with the purposes a vehicle will be used for, play a significant role in the acceptance of your policy. Our insurance pool accommodates vehicles used for private and limited business purposes. Hiring poses a specialised set of risks, which do not fall into this same ambit. If we were aware that your vehicle would be used for these purposes, your schedule would have stated this and you would be paying a premium for it.

The reasons that they stated would not be an issue if it were not for the fact that on 21 Oct 2021, I sent a request to Budget Insurance in updating my policy, particularly the overnight address of the vehicle and driver information if and where applicable. On 22 Oct, they contacted myself and my son telephonically about updating the vehicle's information, regarding the new address where the bakkie would be and the purpose/reason why it will be at the respective address.

After this telephonic communication Budget sent me a quotation via email that summarised the updated details which I responded to the same day to accept the quotation, and told them to go ahead, as we were advised that it would be only valid for 10 days. Quote Ref: (***2# Your Business Insurance Quotation: Quote Number ***)

I sent another email on the 3rd of November to the same email address, after no response from Budget in this regard, requesting confirmation that they have updated my policy. As usual, there was no response. The alarming culture of unaccountability and lack of adequate customer service has led to my claim being rejected because of Budget not fulfilling its obligation as my insurer, as opposed to their incipient inclination and conclusion thereof, that I failed in my obligation to inform my insurer and update my policy details.