Unreasonable delays, poor communication, and mishandling of claim – Budget Insurance (Claim ***)

I am lodging this complaint against Budget Insurance regarding the unreasonable handling of my motor claim, claim number ***, logged on 15 November 2025.

All required documentation was submitted timeously, including the repair/replacement quotation, technician report and diagnostic logs, photos of the damage, mileage, confirmation of RMI/AASA membership, and freeze frame data. Despite full compliance, the claim has still not been resolved.

On 2 January 2026, Budget requested that my vehicle be moved to Eastrand Engine and Turbo for repairs. I declined this request as my vehicle has a full Ford service history and I requested that repairs be carried out by Ford, which meets Budget’s own requirement of being RMI approved. I further queried who would be liable for transfer, strip, and storage costs. No clear answers were provided.

Throughout this process, communication has been extremely poor. I received little to no feedback from Anele, despite authorising Budget to communicate with my brother, Shahid Hoosen. On 7 January 2026, we escalated the matter to Flippie Viljoen, raising concerns about the lack of feedback, the status of the claim, and liability for dealer costs. We were advised the matter would be escalated to senior management and handed over to Tumo Sehlabo and Mfundo Manqele. No feedback was provided as promised.

On 8 January 2026, Flippie provided two options:

Budget would cover the total cost payable to Ford and the policy would be written off.

The vehicle would be moved to Eastrand for repairs and the policy would remain active.

We requested clarity on whether settlement would be limited to trade value and whether Ford’s existing costs would be covered. These questions were either partially answered or ignored. Tumo later advised that dealer costs would only be covered up to R4,000, excluding the balance and storage fees. Based on this, we confirmed our original request for repairs to be done at Ford.

Ford was approached for a revised quotation, which was provided and sent to Tumo. Once again, feedback was delayed, and Budget reverted to insisting that the vehicle be moved, while expecting me to pay a shortfall of over R20,000 plus storage fees. This was unacceptable, and I instructed Budget to proceed with repairs at Ford.

On 9 January 2026, further calls were made to Flippie, who advised that the claim was with the assessor for vetting against limits of liability. Mfundo later called and again insisted the vehicle be moved, contradicting the previously offered options. I subsequently received notification that authorisation had been cancelled.

At this point, my vehicle has been off the road for nearly two months. Each interaction results in restarting the process with no accountability or progress. Despite repeated references to “limits of liability”, my policy contains no such limits. Requests for call recordings have also been ignored.

This experience reflects unacceptable delays, inconsistent communication, shifting positions, and failure to honour reasonable policy expectations. I have documented all correspondence and supporting documents and will be escalating this matter to the National Consumer Commission and the Motor Industry Ombudsman.

I am requesting immediate resolution, written clarification of liability, confirmation of authorisation for repairs at Ford, and full transparency regarding policy terms re**** upon.