SANLAM (SDM)

Please note that I have already submitted to your office a change request FLO-220421-EQT, was supposed to be assessed and provided feedback within 24 hours but that never happened. The request was submitted on Thursday 21 April 2022.

Yes, I did receive a call and a letter on Thursday from the consultant stating that they will pay my full funeral claim on a discretionary basis but did not explain exactly what was the amount, on Friday, I received a payment of an amount of R 2467.37 which was paid in my bank account. I do not accept this payment and I strongly believe that Sanlam is insulting me and betraying me. If you're not prepared to pay me by Friday, I will have no choice but to take this to all the media platforms so that other clients could see what is Sanlam really all about. According to my funeral policy contract and schedule emailed to me in July 2020 my funeral cover was R 45 624.49 and almost 2 years later I would expect it to be more since the premiums and cover were increasing annually. I'm now starting to lose my patience, after everything I have been through, losing my daughter and had to go through the funeral arrangements without your support and sympathy.

As per the above response, dated 03 May 2022.
I still haven't received any feedback from Sanlam. Its been over a month now since I submitted a funeral claim for the loss of my beloved daughter.

Since I joined this funeral policy in 2009 (13 years ago). I have since paid over R100 000,00 of monthly premiums without any claim. Currently I'm paying almost R800 pm, debit order date is the 15th of every month. However since I submitted my funeral claim on the 11th April, I have realized that Sanlam didn't debit my account and even now in May there was no debit order from Sanlam. On the 20th May I received an SMS stating that they couldn't deduct a premium due to insufficient funds which is not true, there were funds and still there are funds in my account. I can even produce a bank statement for records. I suspect Sanlam is trying by all means not to pay for my claim and now accusing me of not have enough funds for premiums in my account. When I submit my claim my policy was active. I would like to appeal to Sanlam to be fair, honest, loyal, transparent and consistent to all it's clients. This is really unfair and unprofessional. This is my last review to Sanlam, if Sanlam is not prepared to pay for my claim well I will have no other option but to pursue other options i.e. media and legal.

Noted.....
I hope your escalation has a timeframe cause I have waited long enough already.

Morning, yes I did receive a call from Corleme on the 23rd of May 2022, and she indicated to me that my policy has lapsed as of end of April 2022, after not receiving a premium on the 15th of April 2022, this was caused by Sanlam not paying after they acknowledged receipt of my claim and will be processed and paid within 2 working days, claim which was initially submitted to Sanlam on the 11th April 2022 and was supposed to have been paid by the 13th of April 2022 as per the claim procedure, at that time the policy was still active. Considering the delays I had to borrow money from family and friends to prepare for my daughter's funeral because Sanlam did not deliver as per the policy. As I have mentioned before that I had this policy for more than 13 years without any claim, having paid over R100 000 in premiums, now that I'm trying to submit a claim there are issues, Sanlam is trying by all means not to pay for the claim. On the 15th of May Sanlam did not collect the premium as per the policy and on the 20th of May I received an SMS it says I quote (Sanlam: We could not deduct a premium for policy *** for Apr 2022 due to insufficient funds. To make an arrangement, please call ***or e-mail *** You may also pay using EasyPay: Ref no '*** online via the website www.easypay.co.za) Still there was nothing stating that my policy has lapsed. No correspondence, email or sms. Should I not receive positive response from Sanlam by end of business 31st May 2022, I will send a complaint to the Ombudsman as soon as possible. This complaint will be for unfairly and unprofessional service, rejecting my claim and for re-instatement of my policy.

Two (2) months later, I am still waiting for my funeral claim to be paid. On the 9th June 2022, I received another phone call from Corleme (Sanlam's representative), informing me that Sanlam has taken a decision to pay for my claim and also informed me that they will re-instate my policy since it lapsed after they didn't collect their monthly premium immediately after my initial claim in April 2022. A week later, I am still waiting for my payment as promised, again even on the 15th June 2022 Sanlam was supposed to debit a premium from my bank account but didn't. Please Sanlam for once can you be trustworthy, honest and keep to your promises, it's been too long now and this is totally unfair, inconsiderate and unprofessional.

Today, 20 June 2022 at around 15:00, I received a call from Sanlam informing me that my policy has been re-instated without waiting period and also that my claim has been approved and processed for the amount of R17 451.00 HOWEVER I did inform them to make reference to the funeral plan as to how much they should pay me, according to my funeral plan and policy schedule emailed to me dated: 26 July 2020, the funeral cover for my family including my kids was R 45 624.49 per person so I cannot except anything less than this amount as a claim payout, also considering the fact that there was escalation rate of 4% per annual for end 2020 and end 2021 respectively. Sanlam please take your responsibility and do the right thing by paying me what is due to me without any further delays.

Good day, please note that today I've received some of the claim payout, thank you, however it is not what I claimed for nor what was on the funeral plan. As per the email sent to me by Corlene earlier today I have emailed her the latest policy schedule which was sent to me by Sanlam on the 26 July 2020, stating the correct cover amount and people covered in the policy. I hope this information will help you make an informed and correct decision so that we could finalise this long outstanding matter. I would like to submit my sincere appreciation to Corlene for always trying her best to assist me by calling me, listening to me, sympathizing with me, without you this process wouldn't have been where it is right now, almost at the final stage.

Good day, with reference to the email sent to Corlene on the 21st June 2022 (copy of the policy schedule, dated 26 July 2020). I am still waiting for her response regarding the discrepancy amount for the funeral policy payment as per the claim submitted on the 11th April 2022. I really hope and pray that this matter be resolved by no later than end June 2022, almost 3 months after the death claim submission was initiated.

Good day,

Please note that I'm still awaiting for the response as per email below from Corlene, on 2022/06/29 16:29.
Dear Mr Mqadi, We are in the process of drafting a formal response, that will be sent to you before the end of the week. Kind regards, Corlene du Plessis
Legal and Compliance
T+***2 F+***5

Noted, however due to unjustifiable and unnecessary delays, Sanlam will be liable for the interest on the claim with effect from the initial claim submission date, 11 April 2022, which is almost 3 months ago.

12th July 2022, was exactly 3 months since I submitted a death claim for my daughter, and the past 3 months has been the worst time of my life, empty promises after empty promises and thanks to Sanlam. Indeed Sanlam you're a heart breaker, you cannot be trusted and you're a shame and disappointment to the most vulnerable black people like us. Last week I received a call from Corlene and again she promised to call me back on Thursday after her meeting with the executive but it never happened as usual, I waited and waited and waited, still waiting for her call. I am really tired and fed up of fighting for what belongs to me because of your incompetence, selfless and heartless individuals. Now this must come to an end. Sanlam if you feel I don't deserve this payment, please don't pay it but if you feel otherwise then please do the right thing and stop wasting my time and energy.

With all due respect, South Africans, Sanlam is not a name you can trust, especially during hard and difficult times in your lives when you need them most, believe me I am saying this from my own real and tested experience "from the horses mouth".

Good day,

At last my claim has been paid in full, thanks to Hello Peter for making this possible and and thanks to you Corlene for your kind assistance, understanding and for showing sympathy during the hardest time in my life, without you I do not think I would have managed. After everything that had happen over the past three months, in my mind and in my heart I wanted nothing to do with Sanlam anymore but I have changed my mind because of Corlene, I will continue to be part of Sanlam family hopefully what happened will never happen again. Corlene thank you so much once again and keep up the good work!