Not treating customer fairly

On the 7th of February a fire broke out at my house while we were out of the country. I logged a claim with Santam through my body cooperate policy. An assessor was appointed and several visits were made to my house for assessing damage and quoting etc. My problem is that to date- I have not received the alternative accommodation benefit. I have spent over R23 000 in paying for alternative accommodation for my family in these 2 weeks without any compensation from Santam. We are a family of 5 and you can imagine the guest house spend per room since the 9th of February to date. I have even provided these invoices to Santam.

On Tuesday the 18th, they had agreed to pay me an interim payout of R6000 for alternative accommodation - but on the same day informed me that they have put the payment on hold because they require additional information.

When asked what the additional information is, they said they will advise further. They have not come back to me or communicate with me since. I lodged a compliant via their complaints channel and no resolution was provided, actually no one even contacted me. I only got the auto generated email response. To date, I have provided them with all information and documentation they asked for. The body cooperate has also provided them with all they have asked for, so I am not sure what is holding back this payment.

The alternative accommodation cover should be paid out immediately to accommodate us while they work on the house and carry on with their claim process. I am extremely disappointed with the service received from Santam in this frustrating period. I don't believe they are treating me fairly. My body coperate has offered to involve our body cooperate lawyers if I have any issues. I thought Santam is a reputable and ethical company but I guess I was wrong and perhaps we will have to go down a legal route in this matter.