Santam very unpleasant claims experience

I would like to share my experience during the claim process for household contents damaged due to moving houses. I am insured by AON underwritten by Santam and this is my very colorful experience claiming for a headboard and a dining room table. A claim that would probably cost less than R50 000 to settle. Worse of all most of my insurance cover on buildings, vehicle, liability is with AON and I suspect underwritten by Santam who has gone out of their way to avoid settling the claim. - On the 26th of September I contacted Refiloe Baloyi from AON to update details on my personal insurance due to changing addresses, I indicated to Refiloe that I would like to claim for damaged household contents, and she referred me to Lettie Ndaba from Santam. - On the 27th of September Lettie sent an email to me to guide how and what should be submitted for the claim and this information was submitted to Lettie on 28 September. The claim submitted was for both the headboard and dining room table - Following that I had another email conversation with Lettie to provide the images of the headboard which were sent through to her on October 4th. These were not sent through with the initial submission because I had given away the headboard as it was in no state for me to use due to damage. I had to incur costs to collect the headboard and buy it back from the gentleman I had given to as at this point Lettie indicated that Santam would want to physically inspect the headboard. Subsequently she confirmed that the System Restoration specialist will be in contact to set up time to come and assess the headboard at my house. This assessment was conducted on the 11th of October and this was communicated to Lettie. - On the 18th of October I sent communication to Lettie to complain about the lack of feedback and the time it was taking to get a decision on the claim. In response to my e-mail, Lettie confirmed that the report from the assessment specialist confirmed that the headboard is not economically feasible for restoration and that she had escalated the claim to the claims review committee to review the issue of the pedestals, as they displayed signs of wear and tear and not damage. Mind you, I did not claim that the pedestals were damaged due to the move. - On 27th October, I sent an email to follow up on the outcome of the claims committee, in response to my follow-up email, I was asked whether I had taken insurance with the removal company and if there was an inspection list noting the condition of property before it was transported. I indicated that Gauteng Movers did not have a process for an inspection and a list, I shared with Lettie the inventory of the contents that were quoted and removed. I also shared the terms and conditions containing a section on insurance stating that the removal company covers up to R80 000, therefore confirming that I did not take up any insurance with the removal company. - On November 4, I received a confirmation of settlement for the headboard and that the pedestals had normal wear and tear therefore will not be settled. In response, I requested confirmation of the decision regarding the dining room table. I needed this confirmation because I had already commenced a legal process against the removal company that confiscated my property without approval. - On November 4, I received confirmation for a settlement of the headboard but not the pedestals. It was my understanding that if the headboard was going to be replaced since pedestals are part of a set, they will be replaced as well. But this was not the case. In response, I requested Lettie to send formal confirmation regarding the decision on the claim against the dining room table to allow proceedings with the legal component. I contacted Lettie on this day and spoke to her colleague who indicated that they would get her to contact me. - On 8 November I received a confirmation from Lettie that she did not submit the damages dining room table claim which I found strange because the initial claim was complete including the headboard and dining room table. On the same day Lettie contacted me for what became a heated conversation, where she accused me that the removal company said they did not load the dining room table. The fact that she was sitting with two removal company contracts one for the move from our previous home to storage where the table was damaged and the second one from storage to our new house where the table was never loaded because it was not part in the inventory. She requested that I send her the inventory and I indicated that I sent her the inventory and she insisted that I never did. I went back to my emails that were sent to her and forwarded the very e-mail which was sent to her on the 27th of October. I sent this a couple of times to make sure she had received it. I realised that she was not a detailed person and she missed important information which I sent to her. If she was detail oriented she would have noticed that there were two removal companies and also studied the terms and conditions instead of coming back to ask for what was already in her possession. - On the 19th of November, Lettie sent me an e-mail to confirm that Santam will settle my dining room table with a table from Decofurn. I am unhappy with the fact that Santam sees it fit to choose the cheapest option over a quality option that I prefer for my house. What is clear to me is that the process I have gone through for my insurer to understand my demographics and characteristics is flawed or is only used to set premiums not to make informed decisions. I happen to have bought pedestals from Decofurn for a family member and the quality is not what I would buy for my own house.

This experience has left me questioning whether Aon and Santam as my insurer and underwriter respectively understand the type of clients they service and most importantly if they would be able to assist me in a case of an even bigger claim if they look for all the reasons not to settle my claim. This experience has been traumatic to say the least and I do not believe that both these companies have my interest at heart of their business as they claim. I will be definitely looking for an insurer that will value my business.