MiWay does it their way - by being sly

<p>On June 7 my husband was involved in an accident with our car. He reported it and followed all the steps as requested by MiWay to submit a claim. This is our first claim since joining MiWay in 2011, but maybe if I had had a claim experience with them sooner, I could have realized sooner what horrible, sly service they provide and I may have saved on years of paying premiums to a below-average insurer and could have moved to a proper insurer. </p> <p> </p> <p>On June 8 MiWay informed us via email thatdue to the nature / extent of the damage to our vehicle, it is considered a write-off and wil be moved to their salvage yard in due course. Only thing is, my husband still DROVE the car home. There was no mechanical damage to the vehicle - only cosmetic damage. My husband phoned MiWay to ask what is considered a write-off and MiWay explained that if the damage to the vehicle is more than 65% of the retail value of the car, then it is written off. They quote the cost to repair the vehicle as R14, 457.53 (supp**** by the assessor). The current retail value of the vehicle is</p> <p>R25 900. When questioned about their math ability (i.e. 65% damage would have been a repair cost of R16, 835 or more, we were given the pathetic excuse that they would rather write off the vehicle because "additional costs may come up" during the repair process. If the assessor was doing his job properly and if he had enough experience and worth as an assessor, surely the figures he quoted as to how much it would cost to repair the vehicle should be accurate and there should be no room for error / additional costs later.</p> <p> </p> <p>We then asked if we could "buy back" the vehicle from MiWay. MiWay's response was, "Unfortunately not on that make and model." When questioned about their reasoning, the conclusion was that the buyback calculation would be as follows: The retail value of R25 900, minus the current salvage value of R24 188 = R1712 to be paid out to us. The lady who was dealing with our claim (Busisiwe Damana) also explained that if they wrote off the car and paid us out, they would not fix the car, they would simply sell it again "as is." I have two problems with this:</p> <p> </p> <p>1) The car, in working condition with no accident damage, is worth R25 900 according to MiWay, but the car with "write-off damage" that was deemed by the assessor to be "uneconomical to fix" is worth</p> <p>R24 188 according to MiWay? How does that make mathematical or logical sense??</p> <p> </p> <p>2) MiWay told us in writing that the car was to be "moved to their salvage yard." A salvage yard, by definition, is "a place where disused machinery is broken up." In other words, if they want to pay me out to write off my car and take it to the salvage yard, I expect them to have the car crushed to pieces so that, since it can no longer be of use to me, it can also no longer be of use to anybody. Yet MiWay's representative clearly stated that they were planning on SELLING the car as is again. That way, of course, MiWay would make back most of the money they would have paid out to me. Who knows? They might even make a little profit. </p> <p> </p> <p>Furthermore, the assessor's report clearly stated that the recommendation is that, although the vehicle is deemed "uneconomical to repair", the vehicle should "not be de-registered," because it is repairable and not permanently unfit for use as a motor vehicle. Why has the assessor ensured that it is noted that the vehicle is not permanently unfit for use as a motor vehicle? Welll, presumably so MiWay can sell and make money off my car again. </p> <p> </p> <p>Today is 23 June 2017 - more than two weeks after the accident - and I still have no car and still no resolution from MiWay. Apart from having to contend with their mathematics and reasoning that make absolutely no sense, I've also had to deal with the frustration of very sluggish communication / replies to my queries and have had to follow up countless times on emails sent and phonecalls made. </p> <p> </p> <p>I have been a loyal client of MiWay since 2011 and have two cars and household contents insured with them. Since 2011 I have paid nearly R30 000 in premiums towards insurance cover for this vehicle and now, with my first claim, MiWay is just shrugging me off without thinking twice about it. They couldn't be bothered to pay out R14 000 towards having the cosmetic damage on our perfectly roadworthy car fixed. Disgusting service, to say the least.</p> <p> </p> <p>I expect MiWay to sort out this claim and pay to have my car fixed. I also expect a proper response to this complaint very soon and if, after all this, MiWay still wishes to write of the car, I will make it my personal mission to ensure that the car is taken to the salvage yard and literally WRITTEN OFF, as in crushed to pieces and deemed useless, because MiWay will NOT sell and make money off my car, if they don't want to fix it.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p>