ABSA Insurance Activated a Policy and Debited My Account Without My Consent

I have vehicle finance through ABSA and was contacted by AVAF regarding my vehicle insurance. During the call, I was advised that I needed to provide proof of valid insurance within 14 days. I was further informed that if proof of insurance was not received within that period, I would automatically be covered under ABSA Vehicle Insurance. The consultant also provided me with a quotation for the insurance cover.

The premium quoted was attractive, and I expressed interest in learning more about the insurance product. I asked the consultant to contact me again so that I could consider the offer, but I never received a follow-up call.

Approximately two weeks later, I received an SMS from ABSA stating that they had not received my insurance documents. This was surprising because I had submitted the required documents on the same day that I was contacted. After receiving the SMS, I called ABSA and spoke to a consultant who confirmed that my insurance documents had been received and were on record. I also received an SMS confirming receipt of the documents.

Although I already had insurance in place, I remained interested in ABSA Insurance because the quoted premium was lower than what I was currently paying. I therefore visited the ABSA website, obtained a quotation, and requested a callback.

Several weeks later, I received a call from an ABSA Insurance consultant regarding my quotation. During the discussion, I provided my banking details as part of the quotation process. However, while explaining the terms and conditions, the consultant informed me that a debit order mandate would be sent to me for authorisation. At that point, I made it clear that I was not willing to proceed with the insurance if it required a debit order mandate. I specifically stated that I did not consent to any debit order being authorised on my behalf.

The consultant advised that the monthly premium would ordinarily be R1,767.98 but that I qualified for a discount, reducing the premium to R990.86. While I found the offer appealing, I reiterated that I would not proceed with the insurance without first reviewing and authorising the debit order mandate myself.

The consultant then advised that he would investigate whether it was possible for me to obtain the insurance without the debit order mandate, and the call ended. Thereafter, I continued receiving calls from ABSA Insurance offering insurance products, which led me to believe that no policy had been activated and that my quotation remained open.

A few days later, the same consultant contacted me again and informed me that it would not be possible to proceed without the debit order mandate. I immediately instructed him to cancel the process because I no longer wished to continue with the insurance application.

During our discussions, the consultant also explained that, should I proceed with ABSA Insurance, they would notify my current insurer that I had taken out a new policy with ABSA Insurance and request the cancellation of my existing insurance policy. He further advised that the new ABSA Insurance cover would commence on 1 June. I specifically asked whether this process had already been completed, and he confirmed that it had not. This reassured me because I had not cancelled my existing insurance policy.

To my surprise, on 27 May I received policy documents from ABSA Insurance indicating that I had been placed on cover. I also received an SMS advising that a debit order would be processed on 31 May.

Concerned by this, I requested a callback from ABSA Insurance on 27 May and was contacted on 29 May. During that call, I informed the consultant that I was no longer interested in the insurance and requested that the policy be cancelled immediately. The consultant advised that she would escalate the matter to her manager.

Despite my request for cancellation, I checked my bank account yesterday and discovered that an amount of R1,733.32 had been debited from my account.