Old Mutual ****

I was recruited by one of Old Mutual field service agents at the beginning of this year (2024) for a policy that was going to cover myself and my parent. On agreement the premiums were going to start debiting my bank account on the 25th of June 2024, which they did. The following month I went to one of the Old Mutual branches in Durban (Pavillion branch to be exact), to request for the soft / hard copy of my policy document. Because at this stage I knew that the policy should be active and appearing on the system. To my surprise the branch told me that there is no active policy under my name. The only policy they were able to pick up was the lapsed policy I opened in 2016.

I informed them that the new policy has started debiting my bank account already, how come nothing is appearing on the system! I was then requested to submit proof of my bank statement to further investigation. On 25th of July 2024, 2nd debit went through and I decided to revisit the same branch again for an update. When I got there I was told the same thing again that there is no policy under my name.

I have been doing this runaround with this branch since July up until now. I requested them to stop the debit mandate on my bank account because I cannot be paying for a policy that does not exist at all. My banking institution was unable to stop the debit on their end as they advised that it's only Old Mutual who will be able to put a stop on the monthly debits. When I went back to the branch the previous month telling them that I'm sick and tired of this nonsense, a week later I received an sms on my mobile phone that I was due for a refund.

A week after receiving an sms, I went back to the branch, needed an update on the refund and answers of why are debit orders still active on my bank account. The lady who was assisting me told me that she logged my queries and I should wait for a reply from the Old Mutual team. Got the reply with the outcome that now they were picking up the policy with an incorrect surname and email was saying no refunds on my name.

This was such an insult. After 5 months going back and forth with the Old Mutual branch, requested them several times to stop the debit, at the end policy is coming up with incorrect surname and my correct ID number. This organisation needs to provide proper training to their staff, nobody can tolerate this nonsense.

In conclusion I requested them that i needed the debits stopped, refund my money. If Old Mutual could have such difficulties in retrieving my policy document, how much more when I'm in need to claim. No way, I'm good with the Old Mutual team.

I also took some time in reporting this incident to their Arbitration Complaint Management team. Below is the last part of their reply email to my complaint:

"You can write a letter, then take a picture and forward it. It must be a clear and close up picture of the letter.

Kindly note that no refund is due as you were aware of the policy and agreed/signed for the policy. A funeral plan is a pure risk insurance product, which means that the premium you are paying is being used to cover the risk of an assured passing away.

It is not an investment policy and therefore does not hold a cash value. As long as the policy is in force and you continue paying the premiums, your cover is in place.

Please advise how you wish to proceed with the policy.

Kind regards SHAFAA KARRIEM"

All i need is my money back since the policy was nowhere to be found and i was paying for nothing. Now they are telling me that i agreed on pure risk insurance and there won't be any refunds!

OLD MUTUAL is totally ****ming people