ABSA Absolutely does anything in order not to pay LEGIT claims.

After the Storm winds of 19 September that went through Gauteng and Pretoria my porch ceiling was damaged by the wind. On 20 September I submitted a telephonic claim as per below. When I reported the claim on the 20th of September ABSA had no record of my address, only the ERF number? However the policy document that was sent out by ABSA used the correct address and has been using this address for at least +/- 25 years to send hard copies of correspondence i.e. ABSA Home Insurance Policy. When they sent out the first assessor on their contractors panel the contractor had to phone me in order to get the address as ABSA only gave them an ERF number. This contractor confirmed to me that they have never seen an ISO Board ceiling nor have they ever installed or repaired such a ceiling?

Having complained to ABSA Insurance a second contractor came out on 29 September 2023 took a couple of pictures and told me they will write their report and left. On 4 occasions I contacted ABSA Insurance to find out the status of the claim only to be told that the claim was rejected.

Eventually on 17 October 2023 a very helpful lady Kgomotso Marite assisted me and advised that ABSA Insurance has been communicating with me on an e-mail address that has not been in use for at least 20 Years and a cell number which was issued when Noah left the Ark.

Question: how efficient is ABSA overall as I have been communicating on my *** cell number and *** account with ABSA since 2010 and ABSA have been sending my Home Loan and Cheque Statements on this email address and cell number?

The note made by the person that probably tried to call the ancient number as relayed by Me Kgomotso Marite "called both numbers but both went directly to voicemail". Kgomotso was helpful enough to forward the rejection letter to me this morning while we were on the phone.

Now; regarding the rejection of the claim: "The flat roof retained water causing the ceiling to sag". Not correct and or true: See Photo Ceiling dated 9 and 13 September 2023 as well as video taken on the afternoon of 19 September 2023 where you can see my Clivia exhibit where the intact ceiling is clearly visible. Then see Video 19 Sept '23 taken during the storm where I am trying to prop the ceiling up. If it was sagging beforehand why only try and prop it up when this Video was taken? If the ceiling was sagging due to water laying on the ceiling where is the water? Why am I not drenched in dirty water? "There were no signs of a storm and/or wind damage detected on the roof": Yes, correct. The claim is for damage and repair to the ceiling. *See attached storm warning as received as well as recorded wind speeds throughout Pretoria * Link to SABC News reporting about Powerful winds : 20 SepSept 2023 https://www.sabcnews.com powerful... * https://the south african.com. "Just in Structural damages reported due to ROUGH stormy weather in Gauteng... "Cosmetic repairs" were carried out as the Bond holder as well as the Insurance company usually expect the reasonable upkeep and maintenance as per the rejection letter states "lack of servicing, maintenance...." Proof of maintenance was found as per the "Cosmetic repairs of water proofing. This is contradicting. The statement by ABSA Insurance that the roof had pre existing faults is impossible to have been determined by the contractor getting onto the roof and being able to see what the status is under the IBR as the roof has been erected +/- 28 years ago. During 2019 we decided to have a Ceiling put in in order to try and cut the heat in summer. See attached Invoice from Hands On Home. Most importantly if this was an inherently faulty roof why have there not been any claims relating to this roof over the insured period? See latest quotation by Hands on Home to repair ceiling as per the request of the rejection letter. Kindly note that as also mentioned earlier in my reply the Service Provider HOH will only be able to write and submit a comprehensive report once the current damaged ceiling boards are removed and they have visual access to the actual structure between the IBR and ISO Board. Therefore the specialist report can only be submitted later. In view of the above kindly review your earlier decision and advise of your favourable outcome.

With all the evidence ABSA's stance is still "rejection upheld"

If you are unhappy you can go the legal route.