NEVER USE ABSA HOUSE INSURANCE!

We lodged a claim with Absa (***), as a result of our borehole pipe which burst next to the building. We did no know of the burst pipe and discovered the pipe. A week went by and we found the structure situated right next to the pipe started sagging and the walls are cracking and leaning over. The claim was lodged on 19 April 2022, we then had to follow up every time to get feedback regarding the claim. On 22 May 2022 they sent an email to acknowledge the registration of the claim. Again we had to follow up every time regarding the progress as Absa did not send any mails or phoned, a lot of time passed whereby they asked in June for our costing of repairs, we submitted the costing for repairs on the 13th June 2022 and once again no feedback was received and we had to follow up. On 23 June the contractor appointed by Absa phoned us to advise they are appointed for an inspection. Once again after the contractor was completed we had to follow up every time to get any feedback from them. Absa then appointed an internal assessor who came and do an inspection on the 29th July. Once again no feedback was provided and we had to keep on following up with them. On 1st of September they rejected our claim as the assessor stated the exclusion “Loss or damage as a result of defects in design, alterations, repairs or construction that do not meet SANS standards.” We then proceeded to appoint our own engineer to indicate the cause and the engineer confirmed the cause as a result of the burst pipe. He also made mention to indicate the previous repairs to the cracks was repaired as per standard which he stated with a diagram to indicate the standard. Once again no feedback was provided and we had to keep on following up as Absa does not provide any feedback. They then advised they will be appointing their own engineer and they appointed an assessor who needed to comment on the engineers findings. The assessor then tried to get our engineer on site and he indicated he will be need to be appointed on the claim which they rejected and the assessor came on her own on the 12 October. After that once again Absa did not provide any feedback and we had to keep on following up. They then sent an Agreement of Loss on the 9th of November for R20 000.00 which is not even half of what the damages are and we had to request the reason for this and they stated they will only be covering the new damages. This is however incorrect as the new damages consist of damage to the foundation. As per the above the rain season started and the damages keeps on worsening. We also received the worst service from Absa as we had to follow up every time and as a result of their negligent the property suffered more damages and they do not provide any feedback. Also the structure is now weak and this will result in the collapsing of the wall and can cause injury and damages to the inside content. I would suggest to never make use of Absa insurance as they have the worst service and after providing them with evidence form a structural engineer they still do not want to come forward.