Discovery ********* and Bad business.

This is my last attempt at getting justice and restoring my faith in Discovery. None of your consultants, escalation team or your managers showed a willingness to help, they shrugged off what was agreed upon in the calls and made me feel like I am not valued.

I was retrenched, Dec/Jan. First Call - On the 6th of Jan 2020 I called Discovery to confirm whether my account was active or not, the consultant confirmed that the account/policy was indeed active. In my mind that means i can spend/use the account as there were no restrictions listed.

In this call i mentioned that I was retrenched and would like to cancel the policy as I specifically mentioned that I do not want to be liable for this account. They said I could not cancel as i was not the Owner/Financier on the policy, only my ex employer can cancel. I then reiterated that I do not want to be held liable.

2nd Call- On the 17th Feb 2020 I called Discovery again to confirm that a- the account/policy is still active, and b- that the account/policy is "UP TO DATE", as I wanted to cancel and not be liable. The consultant confirmed that the Account/Policy is both active AND up to date (paid). I then asked about the limit of funds that i could use without suffering a penalty if my company do decide to cancel, the consultant said that I could spend R4000 up till the end of March, I then asked how much have I spent, to which the consultant said roughly R2000, and that I could spend another R2000 till before end March 2020. I then mentioned that I wanted to book an appointment with the ENT Dr, and the consultant gave the go ahead based on R4000 to spend up until March 2020. I then booked an appointment for the next day 18th Feb 2020.

This is where all goes wrong....

A half an hour before my appointment with the ENT Dr, I get an email from Discovery that says my policy is cancelled AND they are back dating the cancellation to 31st Dec 2019 (Discovery only received the cancellation letter on the 18th Feb 2020). I was forced to continue with the ENT appointment as I would have been liable for late cancellation, so I had to pay cash.

What discovery wants from me and did..... 1- They cancelled my policy 2- Backdated the cancellation to 31st Dec 2019 even though they received the cancellation letter the 18th Feb 2020. 3- Wants to hold me liable financially 4- Put a waiting period on my wife's policy because of backdated date (31st Dec 2019), she would not have had a waiting period if the period of last covered was 17th Feb 2020.

What I expect... 1- The policy to be cancelled (I have asked for this since the 6th Jan 2020). Eventually cancelled 18th Feb 2020 but backdated. 2- Not to be held liable for any fees owing. 3- No waiting period for my wife. My wife joined her own medical aid with discovery (she pregnant) on the 1st March 2020. Meaning the last covered date for me and my wife would be from 17th Feb 2020

My reasoning... 1- Your consultant speaks on behalf of Discovery, so when the consultant gives me information, it is in fact Discovery giving me the information, and what Discovery tells me, are their business rules. 2- All my decisions were based/triggered by what Discovery told me 3- I have stressed in both calls (6th Jan and 17th Feb 2020) that I want to cancel and not be held liable. 4- I was told that i was not given the right to cancel 5- If I do not have the right to cancel, the person/entity who has the right should be held liable. 6- Your calls are recorded due to the fact that it is a valid source of CONTRACT, what we discuss and agree upon in these calls is our contract. 7- Your consultant told me that I was covered, the policy was active, and that I could use of the savings. 8- It was confirmed that the policy was active and paid up to date on the 17th Feb 2020, so you cant back date it. 9- It is ********* and bad business practice to accept a backdated cancellation and hold me financially responsible and revoke my last day covered. 10- Discovery should not have accepted my ex employer's negligence of submitting a late cancellation and back dating it. They should hold them responsible.