Car accident Claim

<p>On the 9th of July 2016 I was involved in a car accident when someone drove into me. I immediately contacted my insurance company and I was served by a consultant name Talent Mutingondo who took all the necessary details. I was told I have to wait for 3 days for my claim to be verified/validated before I can get the car hire which I got a call from Talent notifying me that my claim was approved and the amount of damages was R62 264.91 and my vehicle has been towed from SMD to the VW approved Panel beating company approved by my insurer. Almost 2 weeks into my claim I went to check on the progress with regards to the repairs being done in my vehicle at the Panel beaters. It was a Saturday, I got there and I was notified that there were more damages that were uncovered on the vehicle that now exceeded the original amount, the new amount was now +-R131000 00 and the panel beaters have sent 2 emails to the accessor and there has been no response. On Monday I phone Talent and I advised him to get in touch with the panel beaters because of the feedback and new information that was relayed to me that previous Saturday. Let me just say from this juncture everything went South and my nightmare began. I was advise after countless phone calls for feedback that my vehicle was going to be written off. A credit adjuster phone me and asked me all sorts of questions about the accident and I gave her all the information she required including the other driver’s details and she notified me that she was going to compile a report and submit to my insurer. After countless phones call from my side trying to get feedback on the credit adjuster’s report and feedback with regards to the processes to take place with regards to my claims Talent notified me that he was going to contact Wesbank (my financing house) to get a settlement fee and from there they have to determine how much was the car worth at the moment etc. I guess all those processes came to a dead stop when the Manager who was supposed to approve my claim (I am not sure how many times is a claim supposed to be approved as this claim was approved already but the only difference now was that it was no longer a repair but a write off) notified Talent’s Manager that he/she was not going to approve my claim because there was a question about of my previous insurance claims. I asked Talent what my previous claims (from another insurer with a previous vehicle) had to do with my current claim? Talent then said in my questions when applying for cover I only disclosed 2 previous claims but from my ID no they discovered 5 claims, I then asked him didn’t they verify my information when they offered me cover as I am not a computer and I do not remember each and every claim I have ever made. There was no clear answer but what was evident was that my issue was not being solved and processed because of this matter (now they call it non-disclosure). Non-disclosure is not a correct term as they also did not verify and do a thorough check and made sure that what I answered was correct but they decided to do that now because there is a claim to be paid and they are using this as a basis of not honouring and paying for my claim but it was okay when they were taking my premiums from my bank account every month for the past 2 years without any claims, SAU also immediately after my claim was approved for the repair amount they increased my premiums without my consent or talking to me about it. My case was then forwarded to a Claims Committee meeting for a decision and a week later after the meeting still there was no feedback. I called yet again and I was then notified that Talent’s Manager was still waiting for the Manager from SANTAM for feedback and he/she was going to do a follow up. It has been 2momnth now and I am still without a car. The manner in which my claim has been handled and the treatment I have received as a is client is disgusting. I am reporting this to the Ombudsman as I am sick and tired of jumping through hops for months on end.</p>