Appalling Service, Unacceptable Delays & Disputed Repairs

Where do I even begin? My experience with Discovery Insure following a car accident where I hit into someone else's tyre that flew off their car on January 6th has been an absolute nightmare, stretching over THREE MONTHS with no resolution in sight. If I could give zero stars, I would.

Initial Negligence & Extra Costs: After waiting over a month for initial repairs, I was called to collect my car in mid-February, only to be told the battery was dead because it wasn't maintained at the panelbeater. Discovery Insure expected me to sort it out. I had to pay R3000 out of my own pocket for a new battery due to their appointed repairer's negligence.

Botched Repair & Undrivable Car: Immediately after collecting the car (and replacing the battery), it was clear the repair was botched. The engine had absolutely no power, smelled of burning oil, and was essentially undrivable. It turns out no proper engine diagnostics were done before handing it back.

Further Delays & Turbo Failure: I had to return the car immediately. It then took weeks of pushing and chasing just to get proper diagnostics done. The eventual finding? A failed turbo. My turbo was working perfectly fine before the accident.

Denial of Responsibility & Speculation: Now, Discovery Insure is refusing to cover the turbo replacement. They are blaming "wear and tear" based on flimsy reasoning about the car's age (2017) and mileage (~190k km), completely ignoring the fact the car was fine before the incident and before it entered their repairer's care. Their initial assessment mentioned potential debris from an intercooler pipe (despite admitting no pipes were damaged!) – pure speculation to avoid responsibility.

Ignored Concerns & Potential Malpractice: I raised serious concerns that have been completely ignored:

The car was returned with low oil after the first repair attempt. My perfectly functional oil sensor seems to have been replaced unnecessarily or incorrectly configured, as it didn't warn about the low oil. Was the car run with low oil by the repairer, causing the turbo damage? Discovery won't answer. They take zero responsibility for the dead battery.

Endless Waiting Game: Communication has been poor, with endless delays. Updates usually promise future updates. It took weeks just to get them to agree to an independent assessment after I disputed their findings, and I'm still waiting for a final outcome.

It's now April. My car has been in their network's care since January 6th. As a loyal policyholder since 2021, I expected my insurance to provide support and restore my vehicle to its pre-accident condition. Instead, I've faced incompetence, negligence, extra costs, immense stress, and unacceptable delays. Discovery Insure has failed spectacularly. This has dragged on for over THREE MONTHS with no resolution, leaving me without a car while Discovery Insure continues collecting my R3800 monthly premium.

Do yourself a favour and avoid Discovery Insure. Their service when you actually need to claim is disgraceful.