1 reviews | Active since Mar 2015
Great support, but if they need to pay out they commit to underpayment and hold you at ransom until you accept Ts & Cs
I was involved in a serious car accident on 18 Dec after the other driver skipped a stop street crossing the N9. My claim was finally authorised on 16 Jan and the vehicle was written off. I received an agreement of loss (AOL) document stating the settlement amount, and I had to sign and accept this value before Discovery Insure would pay out this amount.
Unfortunately, this settlement amount is based on an incorrect retail value. It is at least 10% less than the typical replacement value in the market. I am on the classic plan (comprehensive insurance) and my car was insured at the best possible value (retail). Unfortunately Discovery Insure decided to use a value from a static table (not data driven) from the TransUnion Auto Dealer's Guide, which TransUnion clearly states should only be used as a guide and not as an official replacement value. Quite ironically, this value is from the "dealer's" guide and when I proved the replacement value of the vehicle by using data from dealers, they simply stated that the two are not the same.
After failing to reach a middle ground with a Team Lead for claims, Dumisani Mdaka, I lodged a dispute. It took Discovery Insure more than their promised 30 days to respond to this dispute. When they finally responded, the quality of the response was disappointing, to say the least. Lindokuhle Ngqulungo, an Operations Manager for Motor Claims, clearly ignored the arguments in my dispute, chose to respond to a partially irrelevant matter of dealer's values and quite frankly, it was clear that their response was something that was typed in haste just to get it out of the way. They did not give the matter the attention it deserves, even after more than 30 days. It is obvious that Discovery Insure is absolutely committed to underpaying their customers.
It has now been more than two months and I have not been paid out yet. For the past three weeks I have been trying to get a response from Lindokuhle via email, phone and even LinkedIn, but he has been ignoring me completely. I am being held at ransom to accept the replacement value on the AOL and it seems my hands are tied.
- They once again misinterpreted their own definition of "retail" value. They repeated their definition of "retail value" (see repeated below), but fail to see that their own definition states that the value should be possible to be determined from live data as is publicly advertised on dealer's websites. They reinforced that they use the Transunion Auto Dealer's Guide, but fail to see that it's firstly for dealers (which means dealers prices should generally be aligned to it, but it's not), not insurers, and secondly that it's a guide and not a rule or standard.
Retail value is the value that the vehicle can generally be bought for, from a recognized member of the motor vehicle trade industry. This value is obtained from the Auto Dealer’s Guide published by Transunion Auto Information Solutions (Pty) Limited, or any similar publication we approved.
The value is also adjusted for mileage and condition. - They go on an irrelevant tangent about extras not specified on the vehicle. Do research and proper analysis before you make these incorrect statements please.
- They think they go the extra mile by providing me with the option of approaching the ombudsman for short-term insurance (they even provided the contact details), but judging on the time it takes to reach an outcome, I will be held ransom for a further 3-12 months, while Discovery Insure happily gains interest on my settlement amount and keeps on deducting monthly premiums on a car that has already been written off.
Essentially, they reinforce their position as the ultimate authority and confirm that the customer has no say.
- They once again misinterpreted their own definition of "retail" value. They repeated their definition of "retail value" (see repeated below), but fail to see that their own definition states that the value should be possible to be determined from live data as is publicly advertised on dealer's websites. They reinforced that they use the Transunion Auto Dealer's Guide, but fail to see that it's firstly for dealers (which means dealers prices should generally be aligned to it, but it's not), not insurers, and secondly that it's a guide and not a rule or standard.
Retail value is the value that the vehicle can generally be bought for, from a recognized member of the motor vehicle trade industry. This value is obtained from the Auto Dealer’s Guide published by Transunion Auto Information Solutions (Pty) Limited, or any similar publication we approved.
The value is also adjusted for mileage and condition. - They go on an irrelevant tangent about extras not specified on the vehicle. Do research and proper analysis before you make these incorrect statements please.
- They think they go the extra mile by providing me with the option of approaching the ombudsman for short-term insurance (they even provided the contact details), but judging on the time it takes to reach an outcome, I will be held ransom for a further 3-12 months, while Discovery Insure happily gains interest on my settlement amount and keeps on deducting monthly premiums on a car that has already been written off.
Essentially, they reinforce their position as the ultimate authority and confirm that the customer has no say.