Coercion, Bias and Restrictive Claim Settlement with Santam Card– Santam’s Unfair Practices

I write this with disappointment and concern as a loyal Santam client who recently suffered a burglary and expected fair treatment under my insurance policy.

From the onset, the claims process has been marred by unprofessional behaviour and procedural irregularities, particularly by the appointed assessor. During the site visit, the assessor made subjective and personal remarks, attempted to discredit me, and exhibited clear bias. He appeared more interested in casting doubt on my credibility than objectively assessing the loss. He openly admitted that he does not make the decision, and only gathers information for the relevant Santam departments.

Santam decised to settle the claim. This very same assessor has taken it upon himself to dictate how my claim should be settled, including refusing settlement for an item I provided evidence for (a gold chain) and insisting I accept a restrictive Santam card. There were other items ****** that the assessor had no issue with as I provided sufficient evidence of ownership. There was NO agreement of loss issued by Santam as well. When I raised legitimate questions and objections, he resorted to coercive threats, stating that if I don't accept the card, he will send my list to Makro for supplier fulfilment — an action completely outside his mandate and against the spirit of fair claims handling, and against any legitimate concern I raised regarding where I can use the card and how will items I wont be replacing be handled (eg. DSTV exploa which is not used anymore due to smart tvs, old phones that I do not want to replace etc).

I was still forced to accepta Santam Card instead of a cash settlement. The card was dispatched to CCd Couriers before I was even informed of the claim decision ie. that it will be settled (and no agreement of loss was issued but a card was on its way!) Upon researching, I discovered that:

The card comes with restrictive Terms and Conditions.

I will be unable to shop freely to replace items. I must use Santam approved commercial partners (despite the assessor merely stating I can use it anywhere Visa is accepted yet this is NOT on their T and Cs)

Cashback and discounts are controlled by Santam and not guaranteed.

The card can be revoked, suspended, or restricted at any time. I must pay a monthly admin fee at some point.

There is no mention on how dormant funds loaded on the card is handled.

I must accept new terms at activation — long after the claim is supposedly “settled.” The terms are not part of my original policy leaving me now at their mercy or discretion on how to settle.

This is not a true settlement, but a continued control over my post-claim behaviour, in contradiction to the Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) principles enshrined in the Policyholder Protection Rules (PPRs) in insurance legislation.

Furthermore, I have not been shown any clause in my policy which states that Santam can unilaterally choose to settle my claim via a card or force fulfilment through a specific retailer. I have requested this in writing — and ended up finding it myself. Santam can opt to replace, repair, issue a "Santam approved card", cash/eft settlemnet or any combination thereof. The terms of the card use and where it can be swiped is not mentioned anywhere in the policy and I only find out now at settlement stage. By not declaring the terms of the card to policyholders is ******** in my opinion.

I have now escalated this matter and demand that:

A fair, EFT cash settlement be offered immediately.

Santam stop allowing assessors to overstep their mandate.

Santam adhere to transparent, ethical claims handling, not ************ and threats.

Insurance is built on trust. Santam has seriously violated that trust — and unless this is remedied, I will not hesitate to refer this matter to the Ombudsman for Short-Term Insurance and to publicly warn other policyholders about such conduct as this is my personal experience.