Terrible Service

On the 11th of March, someone reversed into my stationary parked car. That very same day, the claim with Outsurance was logged by a 3rd party.

On the 25th of March, I took my car in for an assessment at Automagic in Montague Gardens which was on Outsurances list of approved panel beaters. The report was sent to Outsurance where the quotes were debated over 3 weeks and eventually Outsurance did not accept Automagic's quote.

On the 18th of April, Outsurance advised I should pick another service provider from a list of two, I picked Tekton Wynberg as it was closer and had better ratings. I took the car in for an assessment on the 19th of April, they took a look at the car and accepted the latest quote given by Outsurance. Tekton said that I can bring my car in once they have received the parts.

On the 3rd of June, I dropped my car off at Tekton to begin the repair.

On the 4th of June (Tuesday), Tekton Wynberg reported that they had found additional damage on the car and had reported it to Outsurance the same morning and were awaiting authorisation to continue the repair.

On the 6th of June (Thursday), Tekton Wynberg asked me to help follow up on the email to try to escalate the matter. I contacted Outsurance to confirm if they had received the email. Outsurance said they cannot see the email which was sent to '***' and '***'. Eventually I managed to get one of the agents to agree to call Tekton. Eventually they spoke and the email was sent to the assessor SINKY SELEPE and according to the agent over the phone, the work was "authorised".

On the 7th of June (Friday), no confirmation of the authorisation was sent to me or Tekton, no calls, no emails, no sms's. I contacted the Outsurance claims department again and they advised me to speak to Millicent Magabe who is my case handler. She said she is waiting for a response from SINKY SELEPE. I asked if she could escalate it to him by calling him, she said that I should call him. She gave me his number and I called Sinky. He answered and I explained who I am and what's going on and that the panel beater Tekton is waiting for his response. He said he will sort it out as soon as possible.

On the 10th of June (Monday), still no authorisation from Sinky, Tekton contacted the claims department for an update and they sent him an email. No further response from Outsurance that day.

On the 11th of June (Tuesday), Tekton contacted the claims advisor about an email sent from the assessor (Sinky) to Tekton as she said the email did not make any sense. The claims advisor requested the assessor to explain his response.

On the 12th of June (Wednesday), Tekton asked me to assist in getting in touch with the assessor as he was not replying or taking calls. I contacted the claims department who said they will escalate the matter by emailing Sinky's manager and colleagues. I called an hour later and there was no update, they sent another email. Tekton said they had called 3 times, no reply either. The claims agents are unable to escalate the matter correctly.

On the 13th of June (Thursday), I called the claims department and asked them to escalate the matter. I was then transferred to the legal department where a woman said she will email the assessor, the assessors manager and the PM (Provisional manager?). No response from Outsurance for the rest of the day despite further phone calls.

On the 14th of June (Today), I called Outsurance once again for a follow up. I spoke to an agent who said she will send an email on the system to the assessor. I explained to her that emails have already been sent and no one has responded. She said that is all she can do. Tekton notified me that they had made contact with Sinky (finally) and he said he will authorise the additional work for the damage shortly (again). We are still waiting for the response.......

Why is the communication at Outsurance so terrible? Why can't the assessor do his job in a timely manner? Why can't the assessor communicate well enough in his emails? Is the assessor even qualified for this role? Why can't the claims agents escalate the matter with more urgency each time? Why has no one called me or the service provider (Tekton) back with feedback on the matter? (I have not received one call).