1 reviews | Active since Oct 2023
Incorrect advice
A broker by the name of Juan Volschenk got my wives details through methods i am not sure and started discussing her financial standing. My wife provided minor details and interest in financial products which Juan then stated that he will review her policies and see if he can better it. In the end he advised her of transferring her RA from her current FSP Sanlam to the one he recommended, Liberty. At the same time he was discussing the RA with my wife she made him aware that we recently bought a house and had a baby and was actually interested in a policy for the house to cover it in case i pass away or vice versa with my wife . When i spoke to him i made mention of our budget and that i would rather do the policy next year after my annual increase so that my budget is more flexible, he then asked what my budget is which i stated he then advised he will work on something and come back to me, i then stated that if its a normal life policy it should be in my budget and i would consider it. He then came back to us and gave us a quotation for normal life cover which was within my budget which i was pleased with and at the same time discussed my wife’s RA and an education plan for my son, we said no to the education plan due to our budget, he also tried to include accident cover and a cover that would pay out with severe medical illness since my wife made mention to a policy she has for cancer and that its a pay our option if she never claims and which is around the age of 55. She has been paying this policy for more than 10 years now and was about 20 years short to the pay out. He advised her that that policy is bad and its better to take his. We discussed the life cover however he recommended a cover that pays out after 15 years (if i remember correctly) if you don’t claim however the premium was much more than the standard cover, at first i was against it however he convinced me that its better to take the more expensive one with reasons that it sill pay out if i don’t claim and it will cover if something happens to either myself or my wife. Being that he is the professional i headed his words and agreed, he then stated that he will mail us the docs and we can sign but there will be a medical for myself and the wife, here i stopped him and stated that we should do the medical first before signing, he advised that we can sign so long and he will arrange for the medical, again i stopped him and asked if the medical would change the quote since i cannot go higher and needed the amount of cover, i got cold feet a bit here and again advised him we should either wait for the medical or when i get my increase as i don’t have the budget at this moment. Using smooth words and benefits he convinced me by saying there should be no problem with the medical and we will deal with it then, i again raised my concern but he stated if it does come up he will sort it out no problem and that we should sign the docs. So we did. The first problem occurred with my wife's debit, she insisted they debit her the next month as we could not afford two debits but he insisted it must be for the same month and he will get his assistant to help my wife cancel the Sanlam debit so there should be no problem. But there was, both debits went off and our budget was out which caused me problems, my wife contacted Juan's assistant and she said she cannot help and my wife must sort the double debit out with either Sanlam or her bank by reversing it, Sanlam could not help and my wife was forced to use the bank method but it affected her credit score because it reflected as an unpaid debit order. Sanlam even called saying my wife missed her debit, when she mentioned that it should have been cancelled and the funds moved to Liberty at the time Sanlam had no such instruction. Soured we reversed at the bank as we needed the money for our other requirements. Next we did the medical however there was a problem again. The nurse took my and the wife’s blood and BMI, when the nurse took my weight which was more than my residential scales (and i have 2 at home) the weight differed which i mentioned to Juan. That weekend i measured my self with a private nurse and found the weight of the liberty nurse was correct, i reached out to Juan and advised him and apologized. The next working day he told me that they want to redo the medical, i said it should not be necessary since i agreed the weight is correct which he advised the underwriter requires it, i agreed. However when they called to schedule the appointment they mentioned a urine test instead of blood which i asked them why but no one could tell me why, not even Juan so i refused until they can tell me why. Juan came back to me stating that the underwriters requested for it since my BMI had an irregularity . I did the urine test which the nurse was so surprized since it came out with 100% all in order. Confused at this moment i asked about my bloods which she answered that if i did not hear anything about it specifically it should be in order. Juan then came back to me via email and states that the underwriters increased my amount by about R300 on top of the already out of my budget quote i got originally . Upset i got in contact with Juan and asked what was the matter which at first he tried smoothing it over stating it was my BMI and its normal and he told me about the medical and that he will send me the docs to the new quote for me to sign and so forth, upset i told him i do not accept the quote and want the first one, he advised my wife to cancel her other policy and said there was no problem when i questioned him originally but now there is, i reminded him that he said no problem and he will sort it out so he said he will go back to the underwriters and come back to me. After some time he reached out and stated that the underwriters are not budging cause i am a high risk and if i cannot afford the policy i should drop the cover amount, loose weight and dispute after 6 months. I asked Juan if there was issues with my blood and my urine which he confirmed that all those were in order, plus i don’t smoke or drink and have no illnesses or had any operations in my life, according to my Dr i am 100% healthy. Juan tried to smooth things over by telling me the benefits but i stopped him and re explained my budget and that he advised me that there would be no problems, yet, there is and there was nothing being done. Via whats app Juan sent me a message after i declined his reasons and with the tone of the message it comes across him being worked up and frustrated as he said he will give it to me straight, he called me over weight and sent me Liberties BMI chart but according to the chart it had me as obese class 2 and also he advised i should loose weight and dispute over 6 months. I was utterly shocked, even to this day. I might go as far as over weight but obese cat 2 out or 3? Nope, that is wrong. My stomach is not even bigger than my chest in cm, how can i be obese? When i raised this Juan made it clear there is no way forward even though he advises us to cancel my wife’s one policy whereby she now lost her more than 10 years of contribution, i have no policy because i cannot afford their high premium and don’t want to under sure my property which i made clear from the start but was convinced that there would not be any problems. I asked Juan multiple times for their formal complaints process yet after about a week i have not heard anything from him. My wife and i am left worse off now from when we started as we recently discovered that her RA is still with Sanlam and they advised that they do not have an instruction to transfer to liberty so my concern is even worse now cause he said it will be moved to liberty and we already had the debit go off but the money is still with Sanlam? I am upset and cannot even use their complaints line since he has not sent it to me.
