Endless Ducking and Diving By the Ensurer Absa STI (short Term Insurance) When it Comes to settling payment of my 2 Claims, Smacks of Racial Discrimation.

Endless Ducking and Diving By the Ensurer Absa STI (short Term Insurance) When it Comes to settle payment of my 2 Claims Smacks of Racial **************.

It is out of sheer frustration on my part by Absa Short Term Insurance (STI) over the following unpaid claims ***, dated 24/12/2021 pertaining to ****** property (of 11 palisade fencing and their 12 posts). The second claim no *** is regarding the ****** Sign Boards, meant as directional signs for the promotion and direction for the very same property.

Why the ongoing endless dispute waged against me as the claimant, I do not know. What I know is that Absa STI by virtue of its action is unreasonably not willing to settle my legimate claims in question; countless queries lodged by myself in this regard, have only elicited empty promises of settlement still to be made. The latest made via system generated SMS over 3 past weeks.

Call Centre Claim Assistance- hallmark of frustrations due to countless empty promises. Ironically, the amount spent in the telephone calls, in follow-up of the recorded claims, including those even done at the Absa nearest banks (in my case my nearest Absa Branch is 12km Brits or to 18km Hartbee****rtdam/Ifafi) in the end, renders the incidental settlement money not worth a dime, compared to the expenditure of calls made. With each query, you have to narrate your query afresh from scratch repeatedly for the responding agent, e.g. Julia, Mbonani, Kgomotso, Mmathapelo, to mention few of the many agents I contended with in trying to resolve the said claims. Worse, there is no scaling up of cases for the resolutions; While Online e.g. email often serves good purpose in tracking, in the case of Absa S.T. Insurance, is just a mere lip-service, often also with intangible results.

The more Absa STI has been reluctant in paying settlement of the two claims, the more I have been persistent in squeezing out the possible explanation for this odd behaviour (of settling what should be regarded as authentic claims on their part). Eventually, i have been referred to the Absa STI Underwriters Dept; their flimsy explanation for failure of settlement has been that the property is serving dual purposes of residence and the commercial entity at the same time.

My question to Absa STI is that as the Sole Insurer of my property for over 17yrs (as when I first took out the Mortgage Bond, April 2005 to April 2022), they (as Absa Short Term Insurance) have been quite aware of the history of the property as a Farm. A farm is supposed to serve both dual purposes - residential and commercial.

Another question to put to Absa is, is the Farm owned by Black Farmer supposed to be restricted to residential only, as opposed to while owned by White farmer? I just can't help it, the answer given telephonically smacks of racial connotation. Could this be the sole reason that it cannot even be reduced to writing?

Within the same vein, logic dictates that by its inclination and behavior, Absa STI plays the game of picking and choosing which claim(s) to settle and pay out- they settled for the claim for broken borehole motor, dating back to Nov/December 2021 claim number ***, as recent as April 2022 (of course, after countless queries on my part) while simultaneously continuing to dispute the other Two.

If Absa STI wanted to play a game of memory loss, for failing to bring the question of revising Ts and Cs of the Property policy, then I reminded them then of the question of Rezoning which they held my Provisionally approved extended Absa Mortgage Loan application in abeyance for the good part of 2021, from 2021 April till the time I gave up waiting for final approval in Sept 2021 and I had to resort to personal loan application. While rezoning was good enough for them not to allow the loan to go through, it was not good enough for them to advice me that my property was not sufficiently Insured then.

Apparently, of late, Absa STI is not interested in the welfare and support of their customers, worse, even in keeping up the promises they make. In April 2022, while pursuing the very settlement of the pending 2 Claims, the Absa Underwriters(through Rozanne) confirmed to me that my April Premium which was about to be debited will not be debited as we had to renegotiate new policy (as Commercial property). Reluctantly, I pointed to her that how could I negotiate a new policy with Absa STI, while it fails to pay my pending 2 claims. Her answer was, if by any chance the due debit order, if it was mistakenly debited, then it will be refunded, to allow me to renegotiate terms and conditions of new policy. In contradiction, the debit to the value of R12 557.04 has been "******" by Absa STI through use of Absa Mortgage loan account. Yet the said 2 claims remain unsettled, except endless promises of pending settlement.

Recent call made by one of your agent, by the name "Mthimkulu", whereby he was trying to advise me of being insufficiently covered, while knowing that they have not settled the Two claims in question, undoubtedly according to my book, qualifies them to be the **** rather than a legitimate insurer.