Digusting service. Highest level of incompetence!!!!!

I have been a Sanlam client for quite some time.About a week and a half ago i lost my uncle. Prior to submitting the claim i contacted Sanlam on the 21/8/19 life to verify that he was covered and i was informed by the consultant that he was. I then proceeded with submitting the claim via email. I did not receive email confirmation that my claim was received so i resubmitted it on line. On the 22/8/19 i followed up with Sanlam death claims and i was informed that my documents had not been recieved and that i should once again resubmit them which i did. Bear in mind that i submitted a pdf document with all the requirements yet Sanlam repeatedly requested copies of the death certificate then later on they requested the BI663. On the same day during my numerous phone calls to them i once again enquired about the progress of my claim and the consultant reassured me that my uncle was covered and that the claim was in progress. At this stage i had already been given a claim number and was able to track my claim on the Sanlam site. The next day i once again called to follow up on my claim, the consultant checked the system and said that she would have someone call me back regarding the progress. Hours went by and no one called me back as promised so i decided to call them once again. Luckily for me the same consultant who attended my call initially answered the phone and was suprised that no one had called me back as promised and that instead i had received an email stating that my claim was in progress. She then asked me to hold whilst she enquired about my claim. After a few minutes she informed me that the claims assessor had told her that my uncle was not covered because the plan had lapsed in May this year. This was the first time someone had informed me of such after the numerous deferrals for additional information. I then sent a complain email to the death claims mailbox and received a phonecall back where the complaints assesor confirmed the following: 1.She could see on the system that the consultant had confirmed that my uncle was covered and that i proceeded with the claim after this confirmation. 2. She failed to explain why the claim was registered or why there were numerous deferrals for additional information if the claim was contractually invalid from the start. 3. I then asked her to forward me the recordings which she said she would. 4. I asked her why it took more than 48 hours to communicate feedback on a contractually invalid claim which she also couldn't really explain. Her response to my questions was simply that it was part of the assessment process which is highly unlikely as according to Sanlam the claim was invalid from the start. 5. I then asked her why i had not recieved formal communication from Sanlam regarding the outcome of my comtractually invalid claim after 72hours which she couldn't really explain either.

On monday the 26th August 2019 i finally recieved an email saying that the claim was declined as the plan had lapsed in May 2016??? Not sure where this information came from as in my conversation with them they had said the plan lapsed in May 2019.

Yesterday the 28/8/19 i receieved an email from Sanlam death complaints stating that they had listened to their recordings and confirm that the consultant had indeed informed me that my uncle was covered and that they apologize for the incorrect information as the plan had lapsed in 2016 (which is different to the date quoted ealier, May 2019)

Today i received another email from death complaints saying that they had listened to the recordings and in fact no one promised to pay me a payout.

To summarize, i woild have not submitted the claim had Sanlam not confirmed that my late uncle was covered. Secondly they proceeded to register and defer for additional information for a "contractually invalid claim" which does not makes sense. There were numerous errors and discrepancies between the policy lapse dates provided telephonically and via email. To top it off there were conflicting emails sent from Sanlam death complaints, one confirming that the recording supported what i said and another saying the same recordings did not.

I am horrified at the level of inconpetence shown by Sanlam not only have they inconvenienced me but they have single handedly created an expectation and lead me to believe that my uncle was covered. The discrepancies in their communication proves that they do not care about their customers nor do they take pride in their work. Their inconsistencies have caused a great deal of confusion and pain to both myself and my family.