ACT OF GOD INSURANCE CLAIM REJECTED DUE TO “LACK OF MAINTENANCE”

On 12 Dec 2020 we experienced an unusually heavy rain and hailstorm in Hartbeesfontein, North West. Within only 45 minutes the rain meter showed 75mm of rain and our lawn was covered in a white blanket of hail. You can only imagine the weight carried by the house’s roof from all this hail. Long story short… A few years ago King Price Insurance contacted us telephonically to offer home and household insurance, where I explicitly mentioned that our house has an IBR sheeting flat roof. They were all too happy to accept us as their clients and no exemptions were made regarding the above mentioned roof and no assessor was sent out to our house to assess the roof. On 12 Dec when we realised that this wasn’t a normal storm, we started recording videos of the water seeping through the ceilings throughout the entire house. Therefore it was not just one weak spot. The weight of the hail on the roof, split the IBR sheets and the rain water got through. The hail blocked all of the gutters so the water had nowhere to go, but through. With our video recordings and photo’s as proof of the severity of this storm and the destruction it left, we felt at peace that we will be able to claim from our insurers without any hassles. Not so… King Price sent their building contractor to our house, sending his apprentice onto the roof to check for any reasons as to why the water drenched through the roof. Do take note, the expert did not step foot on the roof. We also never received the expert’s report on his findings. We received quotations from King Price’s contractor for the required repairs to our house totalling nearly R500 000.00. We submitted our claim and were yo-yoed around for more than a month with various persons visiting our house but not getting our claim approved (all the while we’re having to live in a house severely damaged). Do also note that obviously our neighbours experienced the same storm and also got damage to their property, AND THEIR CLAIMS WERE PAID OUT because they were not insured by King Price! Eventually an assessor from King Price was sent to our house where he got onto the roof and found 1, only 1 single roof bolt not tightened as it should be. Yet all of the remaining 4000 and something bolts are perfectly tightened as it should be. This assessor took his time to take about 15 photos of this one single bolt. The disappointing outcome of our claim? REJECTED DUE TO LACK OF MAINTENANCE TO THE FLAT IBR SHEETING ROOF, OF WHICH WE DID INFORM THEM WHEN THEY CONTACTED US FOR COVER, BUT THEY DID NOT EXPLICITLY EXEMPT THIS AND NO SPECIFIC TERMS AND CONDITIONS WERE COMMUNICATED REGARDING MAINTENANCE. Not once in the initial submission of our claim was the flat roof, the fact that it’s an IBR sheeting roof or so called lack of maintenance mentioned or questioned, until King Price sent out their assessor MORE THAN A MONTH AFTER THE STORM, just to find one single bolt not tightened enough. I would certainly NOT recommend King Price Insurance to anyone. Not even my worst enemy. Unprofessional and a lack of diligence is an understatement.