********* behaviour from Outsurance. Do not EVER use them.

Outsurance is not to be trusted. I have been with Outsurance for 4 years and never had reason to claim. My premiums always went off on time and there were no missed payments. I thought they were fantastic - until it came time to claim.

I insured my household content and also listed my iPhone 8 on the Out & About cover. It was covered for an OUTsure amount of 15K, as I had it insured in Q1 of 2019. I never provided the amount - the company provided the figure after I gave them the details of the phone and model. My premiums would go up yearly, as they tend to. No gripe there.

What made me mad was now when I put in a claim on 2 Dec 2022 for my iPhone 8, which was lost on 30 Nov 2022. First off, in my claim which I submitted online, I stated that I had lost my phone. I get emails asking me to call them, so I can complete my claim application. BUT WITH WHAT PHONE, OUTSURANCE?? A complete lack of just common sense or comprehension of the claim submitted by "customer service".

Secondly, my policy listed my iPhone as being covered for an OUTsurance amount of R15K - again, this was the amount provided by them beginning of 2019. When I eventually got hold a phone to give them a call, they are asking me for details which were captured by them - again - when I insured the phone. Details such as serial number and IMEI. Why would you be asking for those details from someone almost 3 years later when they should be on your system? How did their people make the valuation if they didn't get the details down then?

The agent I was dealing with then asks me if I'd like them to source a replacement phone and send it to me or if I'd prefer the amount to be put into my account I indicate the latter. After that, as I am waiting for an ITC number from my network service provider to submit to Outsurance, the Outsurance agent I was dealing with sends me an email saying that "We replace items according to the replacement value of the item. It is the responsibility of the client to ensure that they are correctly insured at all times. Should the cost of replacement be less than the insured value, the maximum that we will pay out is the replacement value of the item. The purpose of insurance is to indemnify a client therefore paying out more than the replacement value would constitute betterment."

So essentially, Outsurance is getting ready to schnaai by preparing to pay me the replacement value of my iPhone, rather than what it's actually been insured for all this time over nearly 4 years. Yet (a) they provided the OUTsurance amount and (b) the premiums they charged were for the OUTsurance amount and not replacement value.

Premiums are based on insured value. And the increase in premiums is there to buffer them for exactly the scenario above - otherwise Outsurance would need to decrease the premiums for a decrease in an item's value. So them also saying it's the "customer's responsibility" to updated OUtsurance value is disingenuous at best, and completely ********* at worst. Especially when that valuation was initially done by them.

So if they pay me less than what the premiums I was paying for were supposed to deliver, does it mean that I get the difference back in premiums I should have actually been paying? Because I can't have been paying premiums for a 15K OUTsurance valuation (done by them) and get way less than that (which is what they are trying to do).

This incident has left a bitter taste in my mouth and I will be moving my insurance after this, to a provider that doesn't try to ***** their customers over after taking their premiums for years (without them claiming).