Unfair treatment

With the below, I would like to express my displeasure on how my valid claim was handled, I thereby would like to lodge a complaint.

Some time ago, a friend of mine referred me to Prime Meridian Direct (PMD) to insure my Polo Vivo since he has been their client without any issues. I took his advice and took out a policy with Prime Meridian Direct, everything went well, the premium was very good, reasonable and a knowledgeable sales consultant sold the policy to me, I then took a comprehensive cover.

My nightmare started in September 2023 when I was involved in a car accident, a valid claim was lodged, and the claim was approved, the claim process was seamless and very smooth. The car was towed to a repairer of choice of the insurance, and I believe the repairer was chosen by PMD because of their track record and the relationship between them. As part of the claim, I was issued with a car hire for 30 days, still in the months of September (time records is held by PMD) the repairer assessed the car and sent the report which was typed (I saw the report/quotation) to the value of R128 530-00. The car was insured for R147 000-00. It became obvious that the threshold of the cost of repairs relative to the value of the car was high. The claim assessor decided to approve some parts and not approved others which according to the repairer he couldn't proceed with the repair as one part need the other part, as they co-exist, since then there was a back and forth between me, the repairer and the insurance (your records will show).

Eventually, after my intervention, the claim assessor requested further assessment report from the repairer, to which the repairer sent the same assessment report, just that it was handwritten this time and in PMD form/document, the additional request sheet dated 12 October 2023, was sent with a total Value of R87 388.97 and on the 17th of October 2023, the repairs were approved, and the repairer could start fixing the car and sourcing the required parts. This approval happened after I personally had to get involve and I have made several calls up to the stage of this approval (this was very much unprofessional). On the 17th October 2023, I made a plea to PMD for an extension of a car hire since I was supposed to return it on the 20th of October 2023, since the delay was caused by poor handling of the claim, this I think and believed for an insurance company with the best interest of the client at heart, this was a reasonable request, the matter was referred to the legal department to which my request was denied due to distorted information being used to reach the decision, the Market conduct department (Dispute resolution) never app**** the general principle of the audi alteram partem as I was never contacted for the side of my story, I don't know how did they reach the conclusion without my version. One of the reasons provided for the rejection was that the delay was not as a result of PMD rather than the repairer, to which I blatantly deny, as unhappy as I was, I decided to let it go, hoping that the car will be fixed soon, not knowing that I'm fooling myself. I'm of an opinion that PMD, given the nature of the circumstances and being in possession of the claim history, they were supposed to extend the car hire by a week and watch the repair progress closely, they decided to leave me to dry and disparate, when i enquire i will be referred to the repairer, even though I don't have any legal relationship with the repairer, I am PMD client.

A month of October 2023 went by, and I contacted the repairer for an update, I was informed that they ordered the parts, they will commence with the repair soon. We got into a November 2023, I kept contacting the repairer for progress report, I was informed they are still waiting for a part which they will get on the 25th of November 2023, I then decided to involve you PMD since I felt that the to be "seamless" process is now starting to unfairly treat me, is starting to annoy, frustrate me and I'm being prejudiced. On the 15th of November, I went to the repairer and I found that there was no job done to the car, I informed the insurance (PMD) and a conference call was made between me and Kagiso (from PMD) and the repairer committed to finalize the repairs on the 1st of December 2023, they even went further to an extent of making a courtesy car available should they fail (promise) to which I accepted as unhappy as I was.

On the 29th of November 2023, I again went to the repairer, and I did not find the car, upon asking, I was told that they took the car for panel pulling and welding (cut and joint). I then realized that it is going to be impossible for them to stick to the agreed deadline of Friday, I got angry and frustrated as this is now costing me, I'm paying insurance primum, paying vehicle instalment for the car that I'm not using, I'm paying for calls to the insurance and to the repairer, I got upset and disappointed with the whole process including PMD who undertook to put me to my original position/ close to my original position should anything happen to me provided I stick to my obligation of paying my premium to which I think they have failed substantively. Disappointed as I was, I contacted PMD about the situation, surprisingly, PMD informed me to give them until Friday and that they will contact the repairer first thing in the morning to check the progress and they will contact me. Friday morning, no call from the repairer and from PMD, in the afternoon I contacted PMD to inform them of my predicament, they promised to contact the repairer and come back to me which they never did.

First week of December 2023, the repairer issued me with a courtesy car, and the following week I was informed that my car is ready for collection, upon arrival, I found that the car is far from complete, the paint work was very poor, the panel alignment was out, the welding was poor, there car looked horrible. I then informed the insurance and apparently even before my call the assessment department (Lynn) already saw the pictures and he was not happy with the whole work done, however he gave them another chance to repair the car, which i found disgusting because that is my car which he is letting people whom he can confirm *********** to work on my car again, like it was an experimental car, the question that he was supposed to ask himself was how did they get it wrong in the first place, I mean 98% of that work was so wrong to an extent that I, an unqualified penal beater could see it. It was then that an honest, reasonable and an assessor that cares was supposed to have moved the car to another repairer, I think the assessor failed me dismally, he didn't seem to care even though he has an obligation to do so, to him it was only about cost saving at my expense.

I further complained to PMD and I was informed that on the 8th of January 2023, they will move my car to another panel beater, that did not happen, instead, the same repairer was given a go ahead to further repair my car by the assessor even though he was not happy with their work in the first place, the reason to that is only known by him. The dashboard of the car was removed and fitted by unqualified people, which further places me at risk, as i cannot confirm if the wiring and airbags was placed properly. In January, PMD assessment manager (Lynn) visited the repairer for physical assessment, I requested that he contact me when he got to the repairer as I would like to meet with him to discuss my displeasure as I feel that his team let me down, either due to their incompetence or poor decision making or focused in cost savings and not the safety of their client, as the cost to repair the car was way more than 80% and I feel it should have been written off since the repair will compromise my safety. The assessment manager arrived at the repairer, and he did not contact me, I however went to the repairer, and I was informed that he was there, and he was not happy with their work, e.g the welding was not done properly, and the paint work was poor, I was informed that he provided them with instructions that they need to send him photos of the progress.

There repairer proceeded with the repair, no progress photos was sent to the assessor as per his request, they proceeded closing the car. On the 1 February 2024, I received a call from the repairer that my car will be ready of for collection on Friday 2 February 2024, she is just waiting for a gearbox report, the report was just to inform me that they have correctly installed it. NB: It should be noted that that the insurer approved a replacement of a gearbox, the gearbox installed does not have any history or report, I don't know of its age nor its history, since this is a critical or crucial component of the car, I requested that we get the history report, the repairer said they were unable to get the report from their supplier. This conduct compromised my safety, quality and the standard. As much as the insurer is allowed to use secondhand parts, this is a crucial component of the car, it must be of good quality, and these needs a history of the part and evidence, we cannot just pick any part regardless of its condition and install in a client's car. The agreement was that she would contact me on the 2 February 2024 to confirm if she got the report and when I can collect the vehicle and drop the courtesy car.

On the 2 February 2024, late around 5/6PM I was accosted by the rental agent guys while at the shopping complex demanding their car from me, it was like I stole the car. They took their car which left me embarrassed and humiliated, all this because of my sin of having PMD as my insurer of choice. On the 5th of February 2024, I contacted PMD to get an understanding of reasons why do they want to spend over 80% of the car value in repair and to inform them of my predicament together with my intention to lodge a formal complaint. The consultant informed me that, the assessor informed her that he is unable to make a call to write off, the best he can do is to move my car to another repairer, this is what was suggested in December 2023 and was supposed to have happen on the 8th of January 2024. With all this, my personal circumstances were not taken into consideration rather than the position of the PMD, only interested in saving money which I feel is highly irregular and prejudicial. Nothing was said about my circumstances and how they intend to get me out of it temporarily.

The poor handling of my claim resulted in me being prejudiced.

My insurance premium never changed even though the risk changed. I paid 5 months for the car that I'm not using. This has caused me anxiety, stress, pain and suffering. I am inconvenienced daily. This delay has a financial implication on me. I feel being discriminated and unfairly treated by the assessing team as they are not taking my safety into consideration in them not wanting to write off a car which repairing it will safety concerns. It's now 5 months without a car and there is no clear indication to when will the repair be completed.

Conclusion and prayers:

As PMD client who sticked to his part of the obligation in seeing that premium are received successfully, a client who took a conscience decision to choose PMD as insurer of choice, who became a victim due to poor handling of a valid claim, who suffered anxiety, I request PMD to consider writing off the car as the repair amount is more than 80%, the car is now a cut and joint (safety concerns), the dashboard was removed and installed by unqualified people, this was evident because since December they are unable to close it properly, the gearbox fitted does not have a history, the welding of the car was horrible, this was also witnessed by the assessor, the is a potential further expenses to be incurred by further taking the car for inspection and possible further repairs thereby causing further prejudice to me, I consider the car to be unsafe since I don't trust the cut and joint done. I will not feel comfortable in driving the car due to safety concerns. Show trimmed content