DR
Durwayne R

1 reviews | Active since Dec 2020

01 Dec 2020, 12:02

Ooba poor and unprofessional service

It was a disappointing experience. I pay my premium every month without fail and yet when I lodged a valid claim, I was turned down. I purchased my home last year, I was referred to a company called ooba, who helped me with my bond. Once the bond was done a consultant from the insurance side called me and offered me comprehensive building insurance at a reasonable rate. I accepted. Little did I know what unprofessional service I was in for. I first lodged my claim on the 2nd of November 2020..after a few days of heavy rain fall at the end of October 2020 my roof started to leak in various areas of the house, showing clearly as the pictures taken by the acessor that it was new damage, as I had done my ceilings, installed new cornices, painted the roof put new gutters, facia boards. I called the insurance company, they issued me with a claim number, and appointed a company called bienare services to come out and assess the damage. All of this happened speedily on the 2nd of November 2020. A week went by, I had not received any correspondence from the insurance company. My wife thought that it was strange, eventually on the 17th of November 2020 I called ooba only to find out that their claims are being administrated by a company called brolink. Unhappy about this I decided to proceed especially considering the fact that I was done down by brolink in an accident claim. After speaking to the manager to my surprise after receiving no correspondence regarding my claim I found out that my claim was in rejections for review. I put up a fuss because of the lack of communication, or correspondence regarding the matter, further more I was told that there was a lack of maintenance to the roof. Ooba had not ever sent an assessor to inspect my house before insuring the building to insure that it was up to standard according to their company's policy. Furthermore there are too many comflicting stories by the insurer, consultants, managers and the company appointed to assess the storm damage, who I personally called. The managers of the insurance company refused to send me the full damage report, and insisted only to send me a snippet that pertains to the damage or as they put it "lack of maintenance" to my roof. On the 26th of November 2020 I was sent an email stating that my claim was rejected, and ooba on behalf of hollard and guardrisk sent me a document explaining what I was insured for which scared me as from what I understand from the document is that basically I need to find a new insurance company as I am not properly covered. I have tried several times to contact the onbudsman, but I find myself waiting for up to 20 minutes on the phone and the call ends. I'm at my whits end regarding the matter, being pushed around and told that you have not maintained your roof knowing the amount of money you have put into your home. My roof survived a tornado last year, while my family and I watched our neighbors roofs damaged and torn off. We had reinforced the roof *****s and repaired where we felt needed. We had a lot of gailforce winds and rain and no problem. Now when I put in a valid claim I'm brushed off. This is poor service, unprofessional of ooba.

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Replies (2)
oobainsure
oobainsure's reply01 Dec 2020, 17:12
Official
Hi Durwayne, We are so sorry to hear about this, we take these matters very seriously. We shall investigate the matter and provide feedback.
DR
Durwayne R's update01 Dec 2020, 18:01
Reviewer Update
Hi. In the documents provided by you regarding my claim you clearly state that the damage to my roof is "maintenance related" the statement made is incorrect. The same statement was made by your consultant Thabo on the 17th November 2020, and he has no nhrbc qualifications. You have not done an inspection on the property that you insured prior to insuring it to make sure that it was in a good condition. Every month for over a year you have debited my account taking your premium hassle free. I have pictures and receipts for the amount of work my wife and I have put into our home. Over the past few months we have had extremes in temperatures... Excessive heat, rain, cold, there are possibilities that that could have caused deterioration to the waterproofing. To make a statement that a lack of maintenance is reckless without proof. I have purchased the proper roof paints with guarantees, waterproofing from reputable companies and I can prove that maintanance was done on my roof to the extent that I have had the gutters and facia boards completely replaced. The leaks in my house are in places that are far apart and away from the ridging. I have since there was no correspondence from your company been out of pocket with repairing my house as the festive is upon us and I'm in the process of fitting my kitchen, which was one of the areas damaged badly. The way I was treated was ethically incorrect and evidence of bad business on your part. I'm so disappointed that I am currently seeking quotes from other insurance companies.