BEWARE OF LIBERTY LIFE - ************ COMPANY

In 1997 I took out a policy with commencement date 01/12/1997 with an escalation in premiums of 10% per year. My initial premium started of at R500 per month. One of the rules and regulations of the policy was that the policy should be reviewed once a year, and if there somehow is a shortfall then either the premium has to be increased or the cover reduced. Liberty has never reviewed this policy, and in 2019 when I wanted to make the policy Paid Up (there was an option to do so) I had to my shock been notified by Liberty that my policy has been making a huge loss, and that there is no funds available to be paid out. As a matter of fact they insinuated that I actually own them money. I was very angry because had I know in 2006 (my age at that stage was 51) that the policy is starting to make a loss, I then would have cancelled the policy, and take out a pure life policy from another Insurance company. I took the matter to the Long Term Ombudsman and my case has been dragging on for nearly 3 years. My case was dismissed by the Long Term Ombudsman, and it is no surprise to me because the Long Term Ombudsman is been funded by Insurance Companies. All the Adjudicators and as well as the Deputy Ombudsman involved in my case, blatantly ignored the fact that Liberty failed to review the policy once a year. Just on this fact alone I should have won the case with Liberty. No Natural Justice has been done. This is a shame. There is a proverb that goes: "he who pays the piper calls the tune". All the while, while my case was dragging on I passed the age of 65 years old and I am now insurable because of my age. Liberty kept on drumming out the message that I was not prejudiced, but that is a blatant lie. When I submitted another quote with lower cost from another Insurance Company to the Ombudsman, Liberty refused to commend on that, and claimed that they provided the best cover for the premium that I am paying. In 2019 Mr. Pieter Nienaber from Liberty informed the Long Term Ombudsman that my policy will be moved to another platform, this they did not do, until 2021, again ignoring the rule that the policy needs to be reviewed once a year, and I then had to lodge another complaint. Now that my case has been dismissed I have asked Liberty to make a change on my policy by not increasing my premium on a yearly basis until death. I am currently paying R3376.77 a month for Death Cover of only of R2 658 349. I received a letter from Ms. Elna Lombard the Manager of Group Customer Relations, informing me that they will keep my monthly premium as is, for only 5 years and that my Death Cover will drop to R2 275 832. I am very sure that after this 5 year, Liberty will drop the cover again. This is totally unacceptable to me and it just shows to what lows Liberty is willing to go, concerning their clients.