Pathetic, Poor, No Service, Rude

On the 10th of October 2020, at 22h26 I made a call to Standard Bank Insurance where I spoke to a female person who registered my claim. I said to her we are having a geyser burst. She said she was logging the claim and a plumbing company will be at my home before 09h00 to assess the claim. The appointed plumber came on-site, assessed, took pictures and closed the water pipe so we could at least use water. He then said the claim should have been that the geyser fell instead of burst. He said we should call Standard Bank at approximately 11h00 on Monday, 12 October 2020, by that time he would have sent in the assessment report.

Indeed at that time I made that call, the call was taken by Sfiso Hlelo who informed me that they have the feedback from the plumbing company and it was the geyser fell and did not burst. He asked how old was the geyser and I informed him that I don't know, we found it when we moved into the property in March 2019, we never had issues. He also noted that the geyser was outside and asked if we moved it. I said we found it like that and it has never been a concern because it has always been fine. He stated that because we are first time claimant, he will approve the claim and send communication to the appointed company. Towards the end of the call I inquired as to what would happen if we were not able to cover the excess. He advised that we make payment arrangements with the plumbing company. After hanging up, we called the appointed company and they had just received communication that the claim was approved. They said the plumber will be on-site at 14h30. On that same call I informed the person I spoke to that we are low on finances and would like to know if we have alternative such as payment arrangement, to settle over 2 months or at month-end. They could not assist assist us because they have a bad experience with such arrangements. They advised that we call Standard Bank Insurance and talk to them, they could be of assistance.

I did that, called the bank and informed them of the situation. Siyabonga Gumede said he could see the approved claim but the bank is unable to assist us in that regard. He also inquired on the location of the geyser, if it was relocated and I informed him that we don't know, we found it like that. I asked if the bank would would be able to do cash payout and we could do it privately. His advise was that we could do it that way, however, we will need a compliance certificate to ensure that the geyser is properly installed and be able to be covered or lodge a claim in the future. I even went further to ask him that in the absence of the compliance certificate, is there no time frame that I can only be able to claim after a certain period of time. He said that the safest thing to do is to get the COC in order to be able to claim at any given time. However, before he hung up, he said he was calling the plumbing company and he would call us back, before end of business.

Much later, after I noted that the day is about to end and no work is done, I called Standard Bank Insurance again and I spoke to Sphephelo Shongo. My call was basically to establish if the bank was able to assist with the excess and determine a way forward. Only there and then I was told that the claim was not approved. When I inquired as to why, I could not be given a response. I insisted to what was recorded, he did not disclose the information to me. I handed the phone to my husband because I was getting upset. He told my husband the same information and he cut the call rudely.

My husband called again and spoke to Nhlanhla Mngomezulu. The call lasted for about 4 hours. In that call he was told that it is recorded that the claim was rejected and the reason was that the geyser was not properly installed. He questioned them to say the claim was approved and the excess was R1,250.00, a company was on its way to replace the geyser, just for stating that he does not have excess funds, it is suddenly rejected. He said what is confusing is that the claim was approved after the plumbing company had assessed and submitted their report and fails to understand when was it suddenly discovered that the geyser was not properly installed. They said the plumbing company had incorrectly recorded the assessment report. In that same call, Nhlanhla said the claim was incorrectly approved by Sfiso Hlelo because I had indicated that the geyser fell because of weather conditions and which I was hearing for the first time. What I had said was that we were outside by the garden and had a loud bang and when we looked up, we saw that the geyser was on the ground. My husband even advised them to visit their recordings to verify if I had said that or not but she could not, instead, she kept repeating notes that favoured Standard Bank Insurance.

While my husband was on that call, I called the plumbing company and I assisted by Hadeo. I said to her I needed feedback on the geyser installation and if they received communication from the bank. She clearly stated that they had spoken to my husband and the was an issue with the excess but the claim is approved. However, the claim is closed because we do not have excess. I inquired that if I were to raise the money by tomorrow, would they be able to assist. She indicated very precisely that they would do it as early as tomorrow morning, 13 October 2020 but I would have to call standard bank to re-open the claim. She did not mention anything about the incorrect installation of the geyser. What I deduced from our conversation was that the claim was just closed. She even indicated that they have submitted their invoice and they will hear from Standard Bank Insurance and will be glad to assist.

After finishing on the call, I told my husband what was just said and he told Nhlanhla that he needed to speak to the Supervisor. After holding for a long while, she came back and said the Supervisor by the name of Candice Jober was at hospital and was unable to attend to the call. He then requested a Manager, she said it was after hours and the was no manager available. Then my husband asked her to send an email indicating that they have been on a call for over three hours with an unresolved claim and the is no superior available to resolve the matter, she put my husband on-hold for a very long time until we heard the survey to rate the service. At this time, we just decided to hang up. Later an email came through on *** basically stating that Standard Bank Insurance is not able to honour the claim due to a No-Insured Event.