Miway does not treat their clients fairly

I changed my vehicle insurance from Santam to Miway after an agent called me with an unbelievable package. Low and behold I now realise that this was the biggest mistake I had ever made. Where I now find myself in a financial predicament due to their “System errors”. They do not treat customers fairly and think that they can take advantage of people by telling them one thing and doing another. The law says all calls are recorded and are made available upon request but to date I have received nothing. So here is my story….

I was involved in a vehicle accident on 21/05/2019. My vehicle was towed to SMD Sandton and I awaited feedback from Miway's appointed assessor.

On the 27/05/2019, I received an email from Miway stating that my vehicle was 'beyond economical repair" and will be written off. Obviously, I was in shock and called Miway immediately for further clarity.

I was informed that my vehicle was written off and I had two options. The pay-out option or the buy-back option. The options were given to me as follows: - Pay-out option Vehicle market value 41 600 less excess amount (2 000) equals Pay-out value 39 600 - Buy-back option (I take my car and fix it myself) Vehicle market value 41 600 less excess amount (2 000) less vehicle salvage amount (10 400) equals Pay-out value 29 200

I took time to process this and contacted them the next day. The same figures were given to me and I told Miway to proceed with the buy-back option based on the amounts given to me by the claims consultant, I was able to repair my car with the “agreed upon” R29 200 pay-out.

I also received a copy of the vehicle damage assessment from Miway detailing the extent of the damage and the cost of the repair. The vehicle repair costs equated to R24 315.09 (incl) and it was explained as since the damage amounted to more than half the market value, the vehicle is beyond economical repair.

I emailed Miway on 29/05/2019 to commend them on their service and requested a timeline on when I could expect the payment to be made into my account. I CC’d all members of Miway that had been assisting me thus fur, I received no reply. I then sent another email on the 31/05/2019. There was still no reply.

After confirming that my claim was settled and the money would be paid, Miway to instructed SMD Sandton to release my vehicle and I collected it on 01/06/2019 to make arrangements with the repairer.

Once I had received my vehicle, I commenced repairs on my vehicle using my salary and savings while I awaited MiWay’s payout. I had still received no reply regarding when I could expect the pay-out. I needed to commence repairs as soon as possible as I was told that once Miway pays out, I will have to return my rented vehicle and I need a car to get to work. I then phoned Miway and inquired as to why this process is taking so long and I was informed that I need to sign a disclaimer.

So, I cooperated and asked if this could please be forwarded to me. Upon receipt, I read the disclaimer report and saw that my settlement amount is R 13 094.29 instead of the agreed upon amount of R29 200. This really upset me. I phoned Miway immediately and spoke to a claims advisor that chuckled and said it’s not possible that my pay-out is R29 200. He says that my vehicle salvage value is R26 000.00 and not R10 400.00. I told him I was very upset and that he needs to escalate it.

Sonette (management) called me on 07/06/2019, as well as my original claims handler, Molebongeng, and said they are investigating the matter. I called them on the 10/06/2019 and got through to Sonette and she says that they had two salvage amounts and gave me the wrong one (they gave the exact amount to me twice). They said that their management has agreed to pay me R18 000.00 which is still laughable and unacceptable. Sonette said she will communicate this to her manager.

Sonette called me back on Tuesday (11/06/2019) to say that her manager has been very busy and will call me on 12/06/2019 at 12pm. I am still waiting for the call.

How is this treating a customer fairly when they had given me the information I re**** upon on two occasions? I used this information to base my final decision. I had to call Miway before someone told me that that this was a system error and the amounts they gave me were wrong. I was treated unfairly in the following ways; • I was misled by incorrect advice given to me • Consumers are provided with products that perform as firms have led them to expect and the associated service is an acceptable standard as they have been led to expect, • Had there been honesty and transparency I would have been able to make an informed decision based on what the amounts were.

I have now incurred the repairs costs and even had to incur borrowing costs for the funds I have used to repair my vehicle. There seems to be no sense of urgency, especially seeing that they have left me, their client in a very bad financial predicament.