Extremely Poor Service received for funeral claim

I lost my grandmother on 7 June 2021, I then made a claim at Standard Bank on 10 June 2021, she was the policy holder. All necessary documents were submitted for the claim, the consultant who assisted also assured us that all documents were submitted and that payment should be made within 24/48hrs. Our family then had to make other means to locate funds for the burial, as the burial was on 12 June 2021. The 48hrs lapsed and I called Standard Bank 18 June to find out when payment would be made, after staying on the line for almost an hour, the consultant advised that the payment would be made the following day, the following day being 19 June 2021.

No payment was made on the day they said it would be made on or even the following week, we had to wait while we need to payback the money we had borrowed as a funeral cannot wait for Standard bank to decide when they will pay. I called again a few times (it must be noted that airtime is used to do this) after that and would hold for a long time to no avail. I finally got through to a consultant on 29 June 2021 and to my surprise, she told me that our family need to go to a magistrate court in order to obtain the funds, her reason was that my grandmother did not nominate any beneficiaries. Does that sound right to you? She has a husband who is my grandfather who is still alive and even he cannot claim, we need to go to court to obtain a letter? Why was this not said to us from day one? When you made her sign that contract, you did not advise her that she had to nominate beneficiaries? When you were taking money every single month from her, for years this was no problem? Is this how you conduct business Standard Bank? You can take money from your clients every month without fail, when you need to pay out what the policy was intended you then make people that have lost loved one go from pillar to post. I am disgusted to say the least. I called you many times in order for us to get this nonsensical conclusion.

We have lost a mother, that on its own is stressful enough, having to plan a funeral is stressful enough, now we need to deal with this unprofessionalism from such a reputable company like yours is shocking. The last thing my family and I need is this revolting treatment and service. We cannot be given the run around when payment needs to be made and when we had all the necessary documents were submitted. Do yourself a favor, do not take any policy with Standard bank.