Completely alone on the claim journey

On February 26 of 2021, from Canada, I submitted the claim forms and documentation for a Death Benefit on my late father's insurance policy with Old Mutual. My father resided in Canada since the 1980’s and was an Old Mutual client for well over half a century. He had received annual statements from Old Mutual which stated the amount that would be paid out in the event of his death. Since filing the claim, I have reached out on more than a dozen occasions endeavouring to obtain information and payment from Old Mutual. With the exception of one reply (detailed below), any response from Old Mutual merely states that the urgency of the claim has been escalated and/or it has been passed to another department. I have received auto replies claiming that "We are by your side through the rest of your claim journey" but I have never felt so alone in trying to resolve a matter. An Old Mutual representative, Mr. Stuart Ockhuis, finally contacted me directly, but advised me on April 23 that I need to appoint a representative in S.A., provide a letter of Executorship in S.A and a P.O.A. to deal with the S.A. Estate, and to provide Old Mutual with S.A. bank details. I immediately reminded Mr. Ockhuis that my father was a Canadian citizen, had no Estate in S.A. and that the Old Mutual information on their website states that benefits can be paid to overseas Estate accounts when the sum is being paid to the policy holder rather than a beneficiary. My father is the policy holder and the death benefit would be paid to his Estate account. All documentation showing my Executorship, his Will, his Death Certificate, Canadian banking information, along with the claim forms were submitted to Old Mutual in February. On April 29, Mr. Ockhuis rep**** that my email would be referred to his manager and to "give me a day or two to respond". I have heard nothing since. On May 10, I wrote once more to Mr. Ockhuis (cc'ing Claims and Complaints departments) and nobody has had the courtesy to reply to my pleas. On May 14, I emailed yet again reiterating that this was very upsetting, and that dealing with a death is painful enough without having to go through this sort of frustration. I had explained previously that I wanted the matter resolved prior to the Canadian tax filing deadline of April 30. The silence from Old Mutual has been both deafening and saddening. While this may not be a lot of money to some, I feel very strongly that my father would want his policy honoured and would expect to have what is due to his Estate paid out in a timely manner. And, at the very least, Old Mutual should be able to communicate in an efficient and expedient manner as to why the delay. While this saddens me, it breaks my heart to think of families who are waiting on funds to pay funeral costs or who are under financial duress expecting what should be a simple and seamless process be quickly completed. I truly am at a loss as I have never encountered such poor service from any organization anywhere. My attempts to resolve this issue with Old Mutual, and to receive what is owed my late father's Estate have been exhaustive. It is only my love for my dad, a man of integrity, intelligence, kindness, dedication, hard work and persistence, that won't allow me to give up.