Putrid Service and Shunning of Responsibility from Nedbank Insurance

My house was built over 25 years ago, and Nedbank Insurance was the Company we used for the Homeowners insurance for this property until recently, March 2018. In 2017, the geyser in the Main Bathroom burst and a claim to Nedbank Insurance was submitted. They appointed a plumber to attend to the removal and replacement installation of the geyser. I was required to pay the Plumber the excess, which was paid, and a proof of payment for the excess was sent to the Plumber. All the applicable documentation, e.g. claim number for the claim in approximately August 2017 with Nedbank Insurance was sent again to Nedbank, in an attempt to get Nedbank Insurance to accept liability for another burst geyser I got at my house on 1 March 22. This dispute has raged in excess of 10 days.

On 1 March 2022, water started dripping from the main bathroom ceiling indicating the Geyser had burst. I contacted my current insurer on 1 March 2022 and lodged a claim. They sent out plumbers to deal with the issue, however, subsequentially advised that the Geyser had burst, and was still under warranty until May 2022. Then the manufacturer Kwikot/Electrolux was instructed to attend to the installation and replacement of the Geyser.

On 3 March, Kwikot/Electrolux sent their technician to the house to replace the Geyser. They left a report, indicating that the service call was not attended to, as the Warranty is Null and Void due to his observation of an incorrect installation. The observation was of an incorrect installation and is related to the Plumber appointed by Nedbank who attended to this Geyser installation in 2017. According to the technician the Warranty was voided as there was a one-way shut-off valve installed on the cold water line between the geyser and the PCV/RV, preventing expansion relief from taking place between the geyser to the PCV/RV.

I immediately contacted Nedbank to address the corrections and requested they arrange to install the replacement Geyser, as this was initially their installation. I called Nedbank Insurance Claims Dept. and the person who was my key point of contact in this department service has been unacceptable and I’ve lead me from ‘pillar to post’, without any direction. Nedbank did inform me that at the time of installing this geyser in 2017, there was no compliance certification requirement, as is the case now. I asked him to escalate this matter to his Management as I wasn’t getting anywhere dealing with him and am still waiting for his Management to contact me. I have called him numerous times, and left messages when he was unavailable. He failed to return my calls and when I did speak with him with appeals for him to call me back with, status and progress updates, he made commitments to call and then failed to do so.

I was reluctant to get in a plumber myself to attend to the geyser, subject to Nedbank advising what they are going to do. My preference would be for Nedbank to appoint an approved Plumber to do the necessary installation, at their full cost and responsibility, as it was their appointed Service Providers who always did the work at this house, and resulted in the Warranty being made ‘null and void’ by the Manufacturer of the Geyser.

On the 10th March, after having spent numerous hours with Nedbank Insurance Claims, and no Service Providers contacting me. I received an email from Jeeva Naidoo from the Nedbank Complaints Department indicating Nedbank Insurance were rejecting our claim and declining liability, for reasons provided above, and referred me to the Short Term Insurance Ombudsman.

Today, 14th of March, I submitted a compliant to the ombudsman, and await their reply. In the interim I had to call in my own plumber, to replace and install the geyser.

Based on my experience with Nedbank Insurance I’m extremely disappointed and annoyed with their shunning of responsibility, and would caution anyone from dealing with them.

Not Recommended