Pathetic Service, Non Responsive

Apologies for the long post. I have been a Discovery Insure client since Nov 2013. Comprehensively covered for my motor vehicles, building and household contents. Discovery Insure initially set the standard very high in terms of service delivery in terms of client service and resolution of claims - that cannot be said anymore. The last 8 days of dealing with Discovery Insures incompetence has finally reached a plateau. On 04 Jun 2019 at roughly 11:00 I contacted Discovery Insure's Emergency department with regards to a household emergency. The emergency department assessed the issue and suggested that I log a claim with the Claims department. I subsequently called the claims department and logged the claim with Lethabo Makgolane. I was advised that the service provider will be allocated. I received an SMS advising how to track my claim , my allocated Claim administrators contact number ********** 044 and email address. I received another SMS advising that a assessment had been arranged for the same day. I tried calling Lethabo on the number provided to find out who would be coming through - the number went into the claims call centre queue. I tried e-mailing her for the details and had no response. I called the number again and another call centre agent tried to assist. i eventually managed to find out that a Leak detector would be sent from a company called Jacko Projects. The service provider did not call me to confirm any details - I had to call them to find out what time they would be coming to my home. Lloyd - subcontracted to Jacko projects- arrived at 15h50 and the did the leak detection tests. He managed to point out that it was an underground leak coming from the main supply line. He also calculated that we were losing roughly 6 litres of water a minute. He further advised that he would send his report to the Jacko Projects first thing in the morning on 05 Jun 2019 and they would liaise with Discovery Insure. I subsequently turned off the water at the mains to minimise the water loss and to keep the water bill due to the leak at a minimum. I sent Lethabo an e-mail @ 07h14 on 05 Jun 2019 advising that she needs to follow up with the service provider if the report is ready as the leak has to be repaired. I received no response to the e-mail. I tried calling and had no luck. I eventually managed to get hold of another call centre agent in the claims department who had to be forced to provide the details of the building assessor that was handling the claim - I have e-mails to prove this. I had to contact the assessor to find out if and when he would be coming to my place - this is now 2 days after the claim was logged. I also wrote an e-mail asking for confirmation - none was forthcoming from Lethabo and Francois Korb only responded to the email after I called him. He came through at about 3pm on 06 Jun 2019 - did his assessment and advised that the contractor would be at my place on Friday 07 June 2019 -the leak should be complete by 3pm and the repairs to the excavated area will be done the following week. He also advised that he has the metre readings taken by the Leak Detector on 04 Jun 2019 and he get another reading after the repair to sort out the cost of the water due to the leak. Friday @08h48 I sent an e-mail to Lethabo and Francois requesting the time I could expect the plumbers on site - by 11h30 no plumbers on site and no response to my e-mail. I subsequently called Francois and he advised that he will follow up with his service provider and feedback to me. He called and advised that the plumbers from Jacko Projects were already en-route to me as the job was booked. @12h30 called the service provider- they advised that they are waiting on authorisation from Discovery Insure - this is contrary to what I was told by Francois. Called Francois back - he advised that he will contact Johnathan from Jacko Projects and sort it out @13h30 still no plumbers on site after 14h00 - I get a call from Anne Marie from Jacko Projects confirming if they can schedule time to come out on Saturday - this is very different to being told that the plumbers are on the way - at a leakage rate of 6 litres a minute the water loss would have been 34200 litres if I had not shut of the main supply. I wrote an e-mail to Francois and Lethabo and advised of my discontent. I subsequently received an e-mail from my "missing"claims consultant advising that Francois Korb is handling the issue. Not in anyway apologetic for her lack of response to my other e-mails addressed to her The plumbers arrived at 10am on Saturday - dug up my courtyard -located the leak and put on a temporary fix (clamp) and advised that they will report back to Discovery with regards to replacing the existing pipes. They also advised that the contractors will be back on Tuesday 11 Jun to close up the and repair the excavated area. No mention of covering the cost of the water loss. I contacted Francois on Monday 10 June to get feedback with regards to the pipe replacement- he advised that they are going to reject the claim - as I had not taken cover for leaks due to wear and tear. He opened up my latest Policy plan schedule and went to the Building section and advised that I had not selected the optional extra cover. I disputed this with him - and advised that I have had previous claims that Discovery Insure had approved and why would they not approve the claim now. He advised that he did not underwrite the policy when sold and he will send me a letter on Tuesday advising why the claim to replace the pipes was rejected - he did advise that they will repair the excavated area and re-tile. This did not make sense to me- I referenced my policy plan schedule from 2015 to 2017 that Discovery Insure sent to me on my Policy anniversary date - in 2015 and 2016 there was no exclusions listed under Buildings for the wear and tear on pipes - in 2017 this was added as an extra option. 11 June 2019 - I sent the plan schedule to Francois Korb and asked why would Discovery Insure make changes to the policy without advising or even offering me the opportunity to add the extra cover if the Policy had changed, I did not receive any response - I called Francois and queried this and also asked for the claim rejection letter. He advised that the letter could now take up-to 10 days to be sent and management has to approve it. I also advised him that his service provider has not come through to close up and repair the excavated area - he apologised and said he will send them and me an e-mail to arrange for a date to complete the repair. @17h17 I am copied in on an e-mail to Discovery Insures service provider advising them to call me to schedule a date for a repair. 12 Jun 19 - at 09h49 I called Discovery Insures client services department - I referenced the change to my policy and asked why I was not contacted relating to a material change that affects my cover - I referenced my policy schedule and the update in 2017 and asked the agent Mfihlakalo Kubheka why I was not contacted when this change was made or given the opportunity to purchase the additional cover if needed. He checked with his supervisor and the feedback from the supervisor was that I should have read my policy schedule and seen the change. I advised that my premium went up year on year and that a material change was made by Discovery without decreasing my premium - limiting my cover and all done without consulting with me. Mfihlakalo Kubheka advised that he had tried to get the manager to re-consider and they are not prepared to budge or talk to me. Mfihlakalo Kubheka is the only person at Discovery that seemed to be prepared to assist. He even called me back when I cut the call after he had me holding for a long time while he consulted his "supervisor" 17h37 contacted Francois Korb - advised him that the service provider has not responded to his e-mail or contacted me to arrange the date for the repair. He could not believe it. He received an earful from me about Discovery Insure's pathetic service, useless partners, non responsive claim administrators and managers that hide from confrontation. He apologised profusely, offered to pay me out cash to sort out the repair (which i declined), offered to send another service provider. 21h45 - still no update from Discovery Insure or the service provider.

I want a senior manager at Discovery Insure to call me as no one is available when you call the client services department. I want feedback to the following: Why my policy was changed without consent and if I needed to purchase additional cover for what was removed and why was I not given the opportunity to purchase it? Why were my previous claims relating to geyser or leaking pipes approved and now supposedly I do not have cover for it? The lack of response and accountability in your claims department. I have been a client of Discovery Insure for 6 years and I pay a substantial premium for substandard service I have copies of all e-mail correspondence. I have copies of the text messages sent to Francois Korb. I telephone records of all the calls made to discovery Insure, Francois Korb and the service providers

Discovery Insure I await your feedback