Don’t waste your hard earned money with this company

My complaint is regarding ABSA Instant Life insurance, a family member passed away in November 2023 of natural causes and we submitted a claim with ABSA Instant life on the 14th December 2023 and submitted that standard requested documentation as per their request. Absa only responded with an official letter on the 2 January 2024, requesting additional documentation but also requesting the same documents once again that was submitted early December of the previous year (2023). It took Absa almost three weeks to send a formal request for documentation that they have already received in December 2023.

Needless to say the information was resent on the 3rd of January 2024 and it was communicated that the deceased did not have a medical aid and have never been to hospital for any illness.

Subsequently there aren’t any additional medical records available for submission. All information was submitted once again. We constantly tried to follow up, being met with only dead ends, and being sent from pillar to post for a period of 7 weeks.

20 days have gone by with barely any feedback, I had to phone in every time and request feedback as they simply did not communicate.

On the 1st of February I was told that the claim was closed as it expired and that they didn’t receive the information as sent on the 14th of December. A female consultant/manager apologised and advised she will look into the matter and make sure that it receives attention.

After a month and a half of calling and wasting time and money ABSA simply closed a claim due to their own negligence and wasn’t taking any responsibility , where is the accountability.

I had to resend all attachments and information and the consultant will phone the next day. The assessor does not answer his landline phone and this rings continuously.

On the 2nd of February I was told that they are working through the documentation and should have feedback by the following week and Wednesday.

On the 7 February I was told that they cannot see the documentation sent to them, because they blatantly ignore emails from me.

I made a call on the 21st of February to see if everything was in order just to be told by the consultant that the claim was approved and that she sent the approval and proof of claim payment the previous week. I was very relieved but advised that I did not receive such a mail, the consultant would check and get back.

After getting back to me the consultant made a mistake and the claim was still ongoing and I received another email from Absa instant life to tell me there is still documentation outstanding (documentation and information that was sent on the 3rd of January).

Absa instant life has no regard and respect for the situation and continues to advertise quick easy life insurance applications and cover to South Africans. I need this matter to be finalised as dealing with ABSA’s staff has been nothing short of exasperating .