If you want your children to suffer in the event of your death, choose OM

I wrote this to express utter frustration with the service received from OM.

In January 2015 my aunt passed having been a long time client of OM having a funeral cover as well as a life cover.

Having two minor children who are listed as beneficiaries, the family could not claim for her funeral and therefore had to resort to taking out loans to cover funeral expenses.

Over the years it has become our responsibility to ensure the children are fed, clothed and attend decent schools. This was done and continues to be done to ensure that we sustain the quality of life their mother had envisioned for them.

The elder sister is now achieved majority (18 years), on the 16th of July she went to Old Mutual Montclair Branch to file a claim. All documentation that was requested was submitted. We were told because she and her minor sister are 50/50 beneficiaries of the payout, it could only be paid out in the event that the minor reaches 18 years or a legal guardianship is provided for the minor. Fair enough. But the elder one is 18 years old, surely her portion can be paid out.

As it stands, we are paying in excess of R110k a year for her tuition in a private institution of higher learning. Applications for next year's admissions are open and in the middle of a pandemic, we do not have another R110k for tuition.

At the very least, pay for her tuition. We will continue raising and financially providing for the younger one as she's still a minor.

I myself have a few products with OM but this experience has really opened our eyes as a family in that we are now forced to hedge our own risk by having other policies with other financial institutions.