ABSA Acknowledges Their Error but Offers Only R1,000 After I Incurred ±R9,000 in Travel Costs

I took out insurance with Absa Group Limited in April 2025. My monthly premium was R3,517, and I have never missed a payment.

On 26 January 2026, my vehicle’s headlights were ******, and I immediately submitted a claim. I was advised that the expected turnaround time would be 7–10 days.

However, I received no communication or updates from the claims handler. When I followed up myself, I was told that the delay was due to Absa employees being on leave. This is clearly an internal administrative issue and not the customer’s responsibility.

Timeline of events:

26 January 2026 – Claim submitted for ****** headlights.

7–10 day turnaround promised.

No feedback received.

08 February 2026 – I lodged a complaint on HelloPeter due to lack of communication.

10 February 2026 – Only after the complaint was my claim approved, 10 business days later.

25 February 2026 – Vehicle finally collected, but the repair was faulty.

26 February 2026 – Vehicle had to be sent back for further repairs.

In summary:

It took 10 business days just for the claim to be processed.

It took almost 20 days for my car to be mobile again, for what should have been a minor repair.

During this period, I had to incur approximately R9,000 in travel expenses, including business travel, because my vehicle was unavailable due to delays that were clearly administrative.

When collecting the vehicle, the repairer informed me that Absa had acknowledged internally that they “messed up.” Despite this, I was only offered a R1,000 goodwill gesture, which is completely disproportionate to the financial impact caused by the delays.

When I requested reimbur*****t for the travel costs, I was told that:

A refund could not be processed because car hire was not linked to the policy, and

Because I have now cancelled the insurance, reimbur*****t cannot be considered.

My question to Absa is simple:

If the claim was only attended to after 10 business days, how exactly was I supposed to access a car hire benefit earlier?

Why should a customer carry the financial burden for administrative delays acknowledged by Absa themselves?

Why would I continue paying premiums to a provider that took 10 days to process a claim and 20 days to repair minor damage, while offering only R1,000 after causing ±R9,000 in costs?

This situation reflects poor service, lack of accountability, and a failure to treat customers fairly.

I am requesting that Absa Group Limited review this matter properly and reimburse the travel costs incurred as a direct result of their delays, rather than offering a nominal goodwill amount.