Stratum, no benefit at all.

Almost 6 years ago, when we arrived in South Africa, we were told that we needed a medical aid plan, so we chose Topmed. Then we learned that we also needed what was called "gap cover, "so we went with Stratum Benefits, having been sold same by a very nice rep. And that was that. For almost 6 years we never heard from Stratum Benefits again, although they religiously took our monthly premiums, which went up by 280% in that period. We never made a claim as we thought, wrongly, that the 2 firms worked together, and we ended up paying the difference. Not so. Apparently we should have been submitting medical claims all that time, but we never knew to do so, until I contacted Stratum and asked what I was paying for. Then a new rep put us right, and managed to backdate some claims for the past 6 months, for a minor payout. But my question is this. Surely NOBODY goes for more than 5 years without making a claim, so why did Stratum not check up with us? We have now cancelled ALL medical aid cover, and will pay privately, but the attitude of Stratum Benefits beggars belief.