Worst Service Ever

Having been with Discovery Medical Aid and Discovery Bank for a several years without any issues, I decided to move my vehicle and household contents insurance over to them as well. This was just over 2 years ago, and it has turned out to be one of the worst decisions I have ever made.

I have submitted 2 claims since joining Discovery Insure back in 2022, both instances unbelievably frustrating. I can honestly say I have never had such shockingly poor service from an insurance company before in my life.

My 2nd and current claim relates to a motor vehicle accident that took place on the 4th of April 2024. I unsuccessfully tried to submit the claim on the website and through the call centre several times on the day of the incident but was told they were having issues with their system. The following day (5th April) I called through to the call centre to submit the claim, and Discovery arranged for the vehicle to be towed to a storage facility where it would be assessed.

On the 8th I received a notification from Discovery stating that my vehicle was booked for inspection that morning at 10h00, so I then arranged to collect a car from Avis through my 30 day car hire benefit.

On the 9th I received a call from a company that was carrying out the inspection on behalf of Discovery. I was told that Discovery had informed them that they needed to contact me for details of where the vehicle could be inspected. I explained that Discovery would have this information as they arranged for the vehicle to be towed. On the 11th I received another call from the same company and was told that as per Discovery I had arranged for the vehicle to be towed privately. Once again I explained that Discovery had arranged for the vehicle to be towed. Later that morning I received an email from Discovery asking me to advise who I had appointed to tow the vehicle as they needed to locate the vehicle for inspection. I rep**** explaining once again that Discovery had arranged the towing. So essentially my claim is being needlessly held up because Discovery has misplaced my vehicle.

On the 17th of April I finally get notification from Discovery that my vehicle has finally been inspected and the claim authorised. This is 2 weeks after the incident, and I have now used up 10 days of my car hire without any real progress being made with the claim due to the incompetence of Discovery’s employees.

To date I have not received any updates on the progress of the repairs. My car hire had only been processed for 20 days, the return date being the 28th of April. So I logged on to the Discovery site on the 25th and app**** for an extension for the balance of my car hire (I was entitled to an additional 10 days). I logged back in on Friday and it still showing as request pending. I try to call the phone number provided for the claim handler at Discovery and it just rings. I logged back on to the site on the 28th just to make sure it had been processed, and it now shows that I have “0 days car hire available. Make alternative arrangements.”.

Where does that leave me? The Avis branch I collected the vehicle from was closed on the 28th, so now I still have the hired vehicle, but Discovery has not extended it. I also do not have my car back nor have I received any updates regarding the progress of the repairs.

If you think this is poor service, let me now share my experience with the previous claim I submitted through Discovery late last year. My vehicle was broken into on the 14th of November 2023. The door lock on the driver’s door was ripped out and the rear door quarter glass window was smashed. I reported the incident to the SAPS first thing the following morning and submitted the claim to discovery. I was then told to take the vehicle in for inspection that same afternoon, which I did.

From then on the service I received from Discovery was appalling. I had to waste hours trying to get updates on the progress of the claim – the phone number provided for the claim handler just rang and rang, emails sent to the handler and to the dedicated complaints email address were unanswered, and when using the chat function on the website I was instructed to contact my handler or email my concerns through to the complaints email address, despite me having already explained that I had tried these avenues repeatedly without success.

My safety was certainly not a priority for Discovery as I was forced to continue driving the vehicle like this for 2 months before my vehicle was eventually booked in for repairs. Despite having been charged month after month for the 30 day car hire add on with my insurance policy I was told that I could not access this benefit until the vehicle had been booked in for repairs.

So for 61 days I had to enter and exit the vehicle through the front passenger door due to the damaged locking mechanism, and for 61 days I was forced to use a vehicle that I could not securely lock due to the missing back window.

Eventually my car was booked in on the 15th of January 2024, and I was contacted on the 26th of January to say that the vehicle had been repaired and could be collected form the panel beaters. Upon collecting the vehicle I noticed the window had not been replaced. When I enquired about this I was told Discovery had awarded the glass replacement to a different service provider.

I logged onto the discovery website and my claim had been updated to “completed”. So again I had to waste hours trying to get this sorted out. I scheduled the glass fitting with the service provider appointed by discovery on 3 different occasions, and every time they arrived with a windscreen for my vehicle instead of the back door glass.

Eventually on the 12th of February 2024 the correct glass was fitted - 90 days after the incident took place!!

As soon as my current claim is resolved I will be cancelling all my insurance with Discovery and I will strongly advise others to stay away from them.