Disappointing Claims Experience and Important Warning to Other Consumers

Disappointing Claims Experience and Important Warning to Other Consumers

We insured our business with iWYZE (Mutual & Federal) and unfortunately had a very disappointing experience when we needed to submit a serious flood-related claim.

At policy inception, the sales consultant asked us certain questions during the sales call. However, after the policy was issued, we later discovered that the way these questions and answers were reflected on the official policy documents did not fully match our understanding of what had been discussed. We paid our premiums on time for almost three years and had no prior claims.

When the flood damage occurred, it took approximately three weeks before we were contacted. When representatives eventually visited the property, very little time was spent on a proper assessment of the actual damage. Most of the visit focused on questioning us about policy details and circumstances.

Our claim was ultimately rejected, and the main reason given was the difference between the sales call recording and the written policy documentation. What was especially frustrating is that, during later communication, a staff member indicated to us that there may have been an error during the policy setup process. Despite this, the written documents were used as the deciding factor.

We then escalated the matter to the Ombudsman, which took many months. Unfortunately, the outcome was still not in our favour, as the policy documents were regarded as more decisive than what was discussed on the recorded sales call.

Another very concerning part of this experience was that during the investigation process, other clients affected by the same flood event appeared to be aware of personal details about our situation. This caused us serious concern about how our personal information was handled and whether this was in line with POPIA requirements.

Overall, this was an extremely stressful and costly experience for our business, and we feel that our history of consistent premium payments and good faith were not properly considered.

Important warning to other consumers: Please do not rely only on what is said during the sales call. Make sure that:

the questions asked by the salesperson,

the answers recorded, and

the final policy wording you receive all match exactly. If anything is incorrect, insist that it is corrected immediately in writing. Differences between what is said and what is written can later be used to reject a claim, even years after paying premiums.

We sincerely hope that by sharing this experience, others will be more protected than we were.