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You never Win “Santam knows best” My Name is Gail Barnes from Cape Town and I insured my car through Santam since December 2015. A year later I acquired another car through an inheritance. Insured the 2nd vehicle on the same policy for about R20 000 in January 2017. My 1st issue is that the 2nd vehicle was involved in an accident that is was driving. The claim was repudiated. Reason “I did not have a driver’s license to drive my manual transmission vehicles”. I’ve been driving for 22 years and had a valid license for that long, only to be told that my driver’s license only allows me to drive automatic cars only. Santam then through the legal book at me, from policy wordings to the traffic act and the reasons go on and on…. I consulted people in the insurance industry about my dilemma and accepted my fate. It’s been over a year and even got the ombudsman involved which was a complete waist of time and money… paying and paying premiums every month with any compensation. I was then advised that I must go back to the “toothless” Ombudsman, this time to dispute, not for my repudiated claim, but for the way they sign me up the in December 2015 by one of their call centre agents. Santam has the recorded proof that there clerk did not ask all the relevant questions at inception stage surrounding my license status and I wanted Santam to void my policy and pay all my money back. A Senior Underwriting Manager in PTA who try to make sense of my dilemma requested the recording of my policy inception and confirmed that all the relevant questions and processes weren’t asked. “who am I to know, what do I know…. they are the professionals, they should have should have guided me…. they never ask me if my license is endorsed or has restrictions on the recording. I now say that the Santam call centre agent who issued my policy did not practice “due Diligence” and I quote from the dictionary’s definition; reasonable steps taken by a person to avoid committing a tort or offence.  a comprehensive appraisal of a business undertaken by a prospective buyer, especially to establish its assets and liabilities and evaluate its commercial potential. In plain English, due diligence means doing your homework Santam!!!!!! All Santam asked if I had a valid license, the card license date and license code and that’s it. I then ask the “toothless” Ombudsman for deliberation in this regard and to find out if the policy should be voided from inception as all the material facts should have been ask by their untrained staff. After many months of waiting I received a reply from the Ombudsman with Santam response……again “brick walling me” there reason for not voiding the policy and paying all my money back for over 2 years…. Quoted: “The insurer responded that the insured enjoyed a comprehensive cover which is subject to policy terms, conditions and exclusions. Considering the submissions provided by both parties, we find that the insured had a comprehensive insurance cover. If the insured had suffered an accidental damage or a loss where her endorsed driver’s license was not material the insurer would have accepted liability. The policy was therefore valid, and a refund of the premium is not justified. We therefore cannot fault the insurer.” “As we cannot provide further assistance, our file is now closed.” Which means I must pay every month and they will only pay a claim if in not driving my car…. what a laugh!!!! To top it off the Ombudsman tell me “Should the insured wish to pursue this matter further against the insurer, he is advised to consult with an attorney without delay and to give instructions to his attorney to proceed with the issuing of summons”. I have now lost all faith in that organisation call the” Ombudsman”, and that’s why I call them toothless and just another bona fide “postman” for siding with Santam and not questioning their processes which is questionable…… I am sitting with a broken car that I can’t afford to fix and a manual car that I am afraid to drive because if in an accident then Santam will say I’m not licensing to drive my car… is this comprehensive insurance…people please check what you are paying for. #avoidsantam