“Her First, Then Her Every Thing”… Except When She Actually Claims

Earlier this year a severe hailstorm destroyed my patio furniture. The glass tabletop shattered and the chairs were punctured by the hail. I immediately logged a claim with 1st for Women, expecting the process one would reasonably assume comes with paying insurance premiums every month.

Instead… silence.

No assessor. No guidance. No call. Nothing.

The problem was that my patio was covered in dangerous shards of glass and I have **five small dogs**. Leaving broken glass lying around while waiting indefinitely for someone from 1st for Women to show up simply wasn’t an option unless I wanted injured pets.

So I cleaned it up and disposed of the broken glass.

After hearing absolutely nothing, I logged a complaint. Eventually someone called to say the magical word we all know so well in South Africa — **“sorry.”** Apparently that word alone is meant to fix everything.

The gentleman said he would come back to me. He didn’t.

Then another call came asking if I had taken photos. No, I hadn’t — because I naïvely assumed that an **assessor would actually be sent out**, especially when the damage was clearly visible (hail literally punched holes into the patio chairs).

I was told someone would call the following Wednesday when I returned from holiday.

That call never happened either.

It is now March. No assessor has ever arrived. No claim has been processed. And I have since had to throw the destroyed furniture away because my yard was starting to resemble a s****yard exhibition of “Before and After Hail Damage.”

What makes this even more ironic is 1st for Women’s marketing:

“**Her First, Then Her Every Thing.**” “**Putting women first.**”

In my experience it seems to translate more accurately to:

**Her First… until she submits a claim.**

And before anyone from 1st for Women now tries the predictable script of asking for **photos and proof**, let’s be clear:

You cannot expect photographic evidence **months later** when:

* No assessor was ever sent. * No instructions were given. * No urgency was shown despite dangerous broken glass. * And the only communication received was an occasional “sorry.”

Insurance companies love documentation when it suits them, but documentation requires **a functioning claims process**, not radio silence.

Premiums, however, are collected with remarkable reliability every single month.

So the real question is this:

If 1st for Women prides itself on putting women first, **why did you disappear the moment a woman actually needed you?**

I would appreciate:

1. A proper explanation as to why no assessor was ever sent. 2. A resolution to the claim that was logged months ago. 3. Confirmation that “sorry” is not the official claims settlement policy.

Because right now the only thing that seems to come FIRST is the marketing slogan — not the customer.