TERRIBLE SERVICE

I had an accident about 2 weeks ago where the my bumper was hit from behind. I went through the normal process to get a claim from Discovery Insure. The initial agreement with Discovery was that I drop my car at the panelbeater and then proceed to get a rental with Avis. When I got to Avis, my rental application was declined due to the fact that they do not accept international driving permits (I don't have a South African one yet as only recently acquired permanent citizenship). Infact, when they called Discovery to double check if they could give me the rental Discovery instructed them NOT to give me a rental due to the fact that I use an international driving permit! I had to take an Uber back home and did not report to work as I was already running too late.

When I called Discovery again to explain the issue, I was told the only other option for me would be a R1500 payment to me towards Uber use - irrespective of how long my car repair would take.

The agent who started my claims process then called separately to ask me to email her my driving permit. I told her she should already have it as this was the same permit I used to sign up for my policy in the first place. She said her system wasn't pulling up the documents I used to open my insurance policy so I emailed her my permit.

Upon receipt, she called me back to say that my international drivers permit was not acceptable to continue with the claim and in addition to not only denying me a rental car, she would have to phone the panelbeaters to stop the car repair process.

When I asked her why all this was happening now, she said it was because an international drivers permit was not the right document to be used in the claims process. My query to her then was WHY was my insurance policy even opened in the first place!? Also WHY did the agent opening my policy even accept this form of documentation? WHY now, after almost 18 months of collecting my premiums (R1700 per month), does Discovery Insure tell me the SAME FORM drivers permit I used to start my policy is not acceptable??

I demanded that since my original documentation wasn't valid / credible, they pay back ALL my premiums and I will involve the Ombudsman in this and start a legal case against them.

If they feel my permit isn't credible, they honestly shouldn't have honored my policy application in the first place!