Metropolitan Life unpaidFuneral Claim and no records but premiums collected montlhly.

I have paid premiums for almost 15 years for my step mother and brother's funeral cover. My step mother passed on in March and I submitted a claim in March . after numerous follow up emails that were not responded to, I tried the Ombudsman. Then I was told to resubmit my ID and death verification form, which I did. Today, 23 July , there has not been any correspondence nor response to my follow up emails. No payment. Myneighbour infoms me that she had to get a lawyer to get Metropolitan to pay. Secondly, my brother's details on the same Policy , for which I pay his portion of premiums, do not appear in their ( Metropolitan database). I have been to the branch in Pinetown after failing to resolve the query on emails ( no responses but empty promises). To me Metropolitan Life has been nothing but a ******* good at collecting premiums but no payment of dues. Imagine if I had to wait from March to end of July before I could bury my step mother.