Incorrect products given to me

Item: Black Cygnet Life
Rating: 1
Author: Edwin P

I got a policy which ended up lapsing because it was not properly explained to me I asked the consultant should I not be able to afford the annual increase can I contact Shackleton so that the current premium remain the same she said yes. During COVID-19 my salary was cut and I got demoted so I could not afford the annual increase I contacted Shackleton I was told that my premiums cannot be kept the same unless if they reduce it. I asked how does that process work She said they will need to reduce the cover amount for the premiums to be reduced she checked she said it would work because the mortgage is still new. Then I asked what do I get from this annual increase She said nothing will change on the policy only the premiums will change. I asked why was this not explained to me when the policy was offered so that I can be offered an opportunity to decide whether to take this type of policy or not unfortunately I could not get an answer 😔

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Replies (2)

Black Cygnet Life's replyOfficial

12 Mar 2024, 11:15

Good Morning Mr. Phokane,

Shackleton Life would like to apologize for any frustration and inconvenience you may have experienced, we would like an opportunity to correct any misunderstanding and resolve this matter amicably.

Kind Regards
Shackleton Life (Pty) Ltd

Black Cygnet Life's reply12 Mar 2024, 11:15

Official

Black Cygnet Life's replyOfficial

13 Mar 2024, 15:08

Good Day Mr Phokane Further to our telephonic conversation with our Client Services representative yesterday, we have thoroughly assessed the nature of your complaint and our detailed response is as follows:

On or about 07 July 2020 during the initial sales call you inquired about the premium increase and the sales consultant advised you that the premiums do go up annually by age, should this not be acceptable to you, the sales consultant informed you that you could provide us in writing a request to decrease your sum assured thereby reducing your premiums annually to a more affordable amount.
Notwithstanding the above, you contacted us telephonically on or about 12 August 2021 regarding the same issue i.e. premium increases, and stated that you were not happy as the consultant advised you that the premium would remain the same, when this was clearly pointed out to you at sales acceptance stage that the premiums do increase annually in line with your age, however, there is an option that you could utilize by way of instructing us through an email that you would like to adjust (decrease) your sum assured to reduce your premium accordingly.
We did attempt contacting you on various occasions to inform you of the outcome after our internal assessment of your matter, however without any positive response.
We subsequently emailed you the sales call recording interactions which you did receive.
On or about 01 December 2021 you contacted us telephonically and once again raised the query around the premium increases on your policy, we advised you that we did try contacting you on various occasions and that we subsequently emailed through to you the sales call recording interactions to which you responded saying that we must resend the recordings to you via email, thus your request was once again actioned and the recordings were resent to you.
On or about 21 January 2022 you contacted us telephonically to advise us that you found a better offer in terms of bond protection cover and would like for us to cancel your policy, the consultant duly emailed you the cancellation form which required your completion and informed you that the policy was ceded by way of a noted cession to the financial institution that granted you the home, and thus an instruction or confirmation from the financial institution in terms of a release of cession was required for the cancellation to be finalized.
Subsequently on or about 27 January 2022 the policy lapsed due to consecutive premiums being unpaid which resulted in all benefits ceasing.

In light of the above, we will not provide you with a premium refund from inception of the policy, as during the lifetime of the policy you were on risk, simply meaning that if a valid claim event occurred while this policy was in force we would have been obliged to assess and admit your claim thereby settling your bond/home loan with the financial institution that granted same. We trust that the above adequately resolves any misunderstandings between Shackleton Life and yourself. Kind Regards Shackleton Life Client Services

Black Cygnet Life's reply13 Mar 2024, 15:08

Official

On or about 07 July 2020 during the initial sales call you inquired about the premium increase and the sales consultant advised you that the premiums do go up annually by age, should this not be acceptable to you, the sales consultant informed you that you could provide us in writing a request to decrease your sum assured thereby reducing your premiums annually to a more affordable amount.
Notwithstanding the above, you contacted us telephonically on or about 12 August 2021 regarding the same issue i.e. premium increases, and stated that you were not happy as the consultant advised you that the premium would remain the same, when this was clearly pointed out to you at sales acceptance stage that the premiums do increase annually in line with your age, however, there is an option that you could utilize by way of instructing us through an email that you would like to adjust (decrease) your sum assured to reduce your premium accordingly.
We did attempt contacting you on various occasions to inform you of the outcome after our internal assessment of your matter, however without any positive response.
We subsequently emailed you the sales call recording interactions which you did receive.
On or about 01 December 2021 you contacted us telephonically and once again raised the query around the premium increases on your policy, we advised you that we did try contacting you on various occasions and that we subsequently emailed through to you the sales call recording interactions to which you responded saying that we must resend the recordings to you via email, thus your request was once again actioned and the recordings were resent to you.
On or about 21 January 2022 you contacted us telephonically to advise us that you found a better offer in terms of bond protection cover and would like for us to cancel your policy, the consultant duly emailed you the cancellation form which required your completion and informed you that the policy was ceded by way of a noted cession to the financial institution that granted you the home, and thus an instruction or confirmation from the financial institution in terms of a release of cession was required for the cancellation to be finalized.
Subsequently on or about 27 January 2022 the policy lapsed due to consecutive premiums being unpaid which resulted in all benefits ceasing.