APPALING SERVICE & SLOW SERVICE

Still no contact made with me the client 2 days later. the internal email complaint response i received from my broker is as follow: Good afternoon Pieter, I trust that this mail finds you well under the circumstances. Myself and Lentey, have tried to fight this matter through all avenues. The issue is the excess amount applicable, I never received the circular that was apparently sent out in February 2024, explaining the change in excess to fire, lightning, explosion for properties that have a thatch section with inside the property. I searched and I never received that specific circular from Santam, otherwise I would have discussed this with you upon inception which happened a month later. Which means when I discussed the excess with you, I discussed the std excess which I was aware of being 15% of the claimed amount. With the change that occurred the excess was changed to 15% of the insured amount, which makes it a lot higher. In this scenario the excess applicable is R300 000. The reason Santam are disputing and rejecting the claim, is due to the fact the policy was issued with this excess noted, as well as it being signed by your self on the page it reflected this clause. I should have taken you line for line through the policy which is partially my fault, on the other hand my fight against Santam is the fact that I do product specific training and I am aware of std wordings and excess structures the insurer has in place, if I was informed of the change to this wording and excess I would have communicated that directly to you. This is the response received from Santam. After consultation with management and complaints department I can respond as follows. The attached was the quotation as requested at the time of acceptance for April 2024. In the attachment is a document ***0 Lamprecht AL Mr Quote 27-02-2024 If you look on page 12 of 25 the same excess is shown as per schedule – see below: Further to the above: Feedback as received from our Commercial Contact Centre:

• Kindly be advised that the higher excess will still be applicable on this risk.
• Kindly be advised that the excess of 15% of the sum insured is correct as it is applicable on Fire, Lightning or thunderbolt and Explosion perils to all new business with thatch risks, this was effective from 01 March 2024.
• Please note that during the quote stage, the thatch questionnaire was completed and provided to us together with all the relevant information regarding the risk and this was referred to COE who further referred it to CU Technical for their perusal of which the higher excess was then app**** based on all the information that was provided to us.

The first amount payable was applicable from sales stage already as indicated above and as per attached communication shared with you. We do empathize with the client’s situation but unfortunately we cannot accommodate your request as indicated below. The excess will remain as noted on the policy and can it not be waived or reduced in this instance. Our office also cannot provide advice in respect of cover and where and how this should be insured going forward. May we request this be shared with your client herein as well? Should you be dissatisfied with the feedback presented, you are welcome to escalate the dispute to the office of the Internal Arbitrator at email: *** or contact the Ombudsman for Short-term Insurance or the National Financial Ombudsman at *** or 0860-800-900 or visit the website on www.nfosa.co.za.