Absa idirect insurance worst Insurance company and leader in poor customer services

I am insured with Absa, my car was hit by a stone or small obstacle on the radiator, which caused water leakage on the radiator and as a result the car overheated.

My claim was rejected by Absa Idirect, stating that I failed to observe the warnings by the vehicle; the regarded damage to the engine is due to negligence on part of the driver.

In an example given in the report by the insurer: It is highlighted that when a driver proceeds to drive car that has been involved in accident instead of calling for assistance and the engine seize, the insurance will not pay for the engine damage because its secondary damage as result of driving a damaged car after the accident.

My question is: If a sober driver, drives on an open road and hits a donkey, will the driver be blamed for negligence, for not seeing the donkey on an open and causing the accident. (Will the insurance not pay claim?)

In my instance, the driver was not aware of the accident; the driver cannot feel the impact of a small stone or obstacle hitting the radiator. Even after stopping to inspect the malfunctions reported by the car cluster i.e. tyre pressure loss, stability control sensor malfunctions, the command at the time was to drive to the nearest workshop, which the driver did as the car was already on its way to workshop for “normal” service, the damage to the car as a result of the accident was not obvious or clearly visible to the driver. Now the insurer does not want to pay for damages to the engine, and only want to pay for the radiator.

My claim has been marred by poor and Unfair Customer Care by ABSA Insurance Company from the beginning.

I am not generally happy with the type of customer service I have been received from ABSA Insurance Company.

1. The car was towed from Audi Hatfield to SMD in Pretoria and I was just sent an email (7 August 2020) go fetch my car from SMD to avoid paying additional storage costs.

Nobody has contacted me to make me aware of this arrangement that my car has been moved from the dealership; I just receive an email, with coordinates and instruction to call SMD and fetch my car.

The matter was later resolved and I was told to the car will be towed back to me, I do not believe its fair that, I had to complain first to receive such basic service. A customer cannot just be sent a frustrating email just like that. It would have been nice if a car had been towed back to the insured address or any location chosen by the customer where kilometers do not exceed that of the insured address, as a standard procedure.

2. On the 11 August 2020 at 14h59 I received an sms from Absa Insurance Company that I should return the courtesy car to Avis by 16h30 on the same day or I will be liable for the costs. It is unfair that I was given 1 hour 30 minutes to return the car, had to rush and postpone appointments to return the car.

3. I received an email on the 7 August 2020, for final settlement on my claim. I was only offered a payout of R3 035 (for radiator) less excess amount of R3000 leaving only R35.00 as payout to me. Effort and fairness was not app**** in processing this claim. The amount of R3035, offered is just the radiator amount (as a single item) on the initial quotation received from Audi Hatfield to repair the car and replace the engine.

The radiator amount offered (R3 035) as payout does not include labour, consumables, or any other cost to fix the radiator and must be VAT inclusive. In all fairness a new quotation should have been requested from the Audi dealership in order to determine the fair and correct cost to repair the radiator. (N.B The radiator settlement I also dispute, I am just highlighting it under unfair and poor customer service)

In all these instances I have experienced a very poor customer service from ABSA insurance Company. It is clear that the company’s objective is to minimize claim costs and absolve itself from making payouts, by all means including neglecting and frustrating the customer.

Unhappy customer