Experience on my first claim - dissatisfaction with claims agentnt

This review is not with the intention to talk badly about the insurance company, but is about sharing my experience and to alarm others who might be in the same situation in the future.

My claims process for my home contents was going smoothly and it didn't take a long time for it to be approved, although I had to call them myself to find out. The claims agent contacted me after and told me that they had found items similar to the ones I had, and made a quote at a specific store.

Option 1 of the claim was to have the insurance company speak to the store, they had made the quote from, to have the store to contact me, Provided that I was happy about the items quoted.

Option 2 was a voucher, applicable to a specific store and I was given only four stores to select from. This is the option I selected, but changed because the agent advised that the third option was better because there were many stores to purchase from.

Option 3 was a claims card, which would be loaded with the approved amount (as quoted) and I would be able to make purchases at any stores on the list of stores selected and approved by MiWay. This is the option I went with as I was advised and made to believe that it is the better one.

So they couriered the card and it was delivered. I started looking for replacement options online (something I was doing even when I was waiting for the card to be delivered).

I found something I liked at one of the stores and, before I made any purchase, I read the terms and conditions on the letter that came with the card. I found out that I would not be able to make online purchases. This was alarming to me as I was never informed when I opted for the card.

I contacted the agent and told him about this, telling him that I no longer wanted the card for that exact reason. I further told himt that I thought the card would allow online purchases and he failed to let me know that it didn't. He didn't have a problem with changing from the card to the voucher option. But he informed ne that I would be liable for a R150 fee for cancelling the card. I refused to pay the fee because he didn't inform me that the card would not pay for online purchases.

He told me that I also didn't tell him that I was going to make an online purchase. When I asked if it was an obligation to tell him, he then said it wasn't. I further asked him how I was supposed to know that I should have been up front about purchasing online if he didn't ask and it isn't an obligation to divulge such information. He told me that he was not required to ask whether I'm gonna purchase online or in store, but I should have informed him of such.

He further told me that he had done his part and what he's supposed to inform me according to their company "script", which was the R150 cancellation fee only. He told me it wasn't his job to tell of the terms and conditions of the card, which meant, according to my understanding, that the customer is agreeing to something that they don't know about and only discover when the card has been delivered. This then disadvantages the customer when they have to return the card.

Another thing that alarmed me was that the agent said that (probably according to his experience) customers usually do not want to hear about the terms and conditions and that is why he didn't find it necessary to inform me about them. He further said that he doesn't inform all customers about the terms and conditions but informs some customers.

He ended up transferring me to his manager. I waited for the manager to inform about the cancellation fee. Thereafter I told the manager that I felt blindsided going into, and agreeing to the deal because I didn't know the full information. And the agent didn't feel the need to tell me because it is not on the script, meaning it is not on the things he's supposed to telll me about. I don't know what I, as a client, have anything to do with their scripts and quality assurance checks.

After explaining to the manager the reason I refused to be liable for the cancellation fee, he said that they would then pay the fee on my behalf because of my "loyalty as a client." He further said moving forward I should now know how things work. To me that meant that they would still not change their "script" to have the agent tell client about the terms and conditions. This meant that someone else was going to find themselves in the same predicament as mine. I was glad that I would not be liable to pay for a fee I could have avoided, had I know the terms and conditions beforehand. I just hope MiWay will be able to read this, and make changes to their agent scripts which do not favour their clients. Also, clients should be aware of this. If the agent does not feel the need to tell you about the terms and conditions, request that they tell you anyway. I don't want to lie, this really disappointed me. I lost my trust and no longer view MyWay insurance the same.