Old Mutual dragged after family drops off dead body at its office in claim dispute

[Nerfherder]

OMG.
Sis to both the family members and Old Mutual for allowing this to happen! What the hell is going on in this country?

The thing is... I understand why the family did it. The insurers wont give money with out a death cert and its sometimes really hard to get that admin out the way. Even after that is sorted they will drag this kind of thing out for as long as possible. This goes for all providers.

I still get calls for my father-in-laws TV licence and Cell phone contract at Nashua. He died 5 years ago.
Some organisations just wont accept that a person is dead.
Nashua still maintain that he must come in, in person to cancel his contract.

So like I say - I totally get where they are coming from.

 

[ForceFate]

Some criminals smarter.

They open a fake funeral or life insurance policy. Then 6 months later they get their buddy in home affairs to issue a death certificate. To make it legit. They steal a dead body. Have a big funeral and bury the person. Then they go and claim for the life insurance.

Same setup with funeral plans.

Also when you have to pay out. You must make sure to pay to the right beneficiaries. This guy supposedly had 38 kids. So you have to find the first kid as he would be most senior in charge. But any life insurance without a will must then cater for the neediest of kids first (needing support). Ie age 0-18.
It can be a real headache. Due to the high cases of fraud. Ie some people with ure name and surname can claim for someone else which isnt related.

So payouts become more complex.

Dont always blame the insurer. They try to pay out fairly but if they pay wrong, they have to pay out again and suffer the losses which will affect their other policy holders.

So make sure you have a proper will set up. It helps them.

One of my friends in SA recently had a guy crash into her. The accident was 60/40 but more the guys fault. He was poor and couldnt afford to pay for her car to get fixed. So she claimed fault and her insurer will fix her car and his. Ie be a good samaritan. Not happy with this he is now sueing her for trauma and hospitilization fees, as well as for him being out of work because he hit her car. And he needs his car to get to work. She regrets not having said its her fault which would have not gotten his car fixed too.

It shows. The people in SA loves taking advantage of others.

I thought they take finger prints of the dead person as part of verification at DHA? No?

 

[TheChamp]

I thought they take finger prints of the dead person as part of verification at DHA? No?

You don't understand, it's the ANC, everything will be done corruptly.

My favorite part would be when someone wakes up one day in a sombre mood and tells everyone that he is hosting a massive funeral on Saturday, of course no one will bother to ask who died. All relatives and all community members will just play along and conduct the funeral in dignity.

 

[ForceFate]

Therein lies the problem. A dead person's body, who by the way has zero legal rights, is used to infringe on the rights of health & safety of others, and law enforcement is urged to look the other way because.....why?

Most of the private and public sector would have been in jail by now. The haze that welcomes you to the first town when you drive eastwards from Pretoria is mostly not mist. Private and public sector also threaten health, safety and environment by dumping pollutants into dams and rivers. Catchment areas are also being destroyed but who has been arrested? I understand health implications of what happened in this instance but it will probably be dealt with by the relevant municipality and warnings issued.

 

[namzsteve]

Apparently the deceased had 38 children

 

[ponder]

I also see the guy had fathered 38 kids. So when you pay out to beneficiaries you need to decide who must get it.

No, the policyholder would have nominated the beneficiaries at the time of signing up.

 

[Jola]

I thought they take finger prints of the dead person as part of verification at DHA? No?

No.

 

[ForceFate]

No.

Ok. Thought they did.

 

[Moosedrool]

Apparently the deceased had 38 children

Jesus.

 

[Splinter]

Anyone want to bet that a lot more bodies will be carted to insurers in the future?

 

[Lindiswa]

Apparently the deceased had 38 children

how is that relevant to old mutual paying out his claim??

 

[lkswan747]

The thing is... I understand why the family did it. The insurers wont give money with out a death cert and its sometimes really hard to get that admin out the way. Even after that is sorted they will drag this kind of thing out for as long as possible. This goes for all providers.

I still get calls for my father-in-laws TV licence and Cell phone contract at Nashua. He died 5 years ago.
Some organisations just wont accept that a person is dead.
Nashua still maintain that he must come in, in person to cancel his contract.

So like I say - I totally get where they are coming from.

Still doesn't excuse either parties behaviour! I also had issues when my father passed. I ascribe it to lack of interest and incompetence.

 

[ponder]

I thought they take finger prints of the dead person as part of verification at DHA? No?

Means jack, if you can get a fraudulent id or passport you can get fraudulent documentation. People insure people that don't even exist, fraud is rife in the industry.

In 2017 claims worth R1.1bn were repudiated due to fraud while the industry paid out R460bn. If they don't try and manage the fraud the premiums of the honest people will increase.

 

[zulucat]

Don't mess with Zulu's

 

[LCBXX]

As I said, but if you feel so strongly about it maybe take it further? It is not the first and the last case where the law is lenient towards specific circumstances.

I think law enforcement is scared to get involved because they're afraid of the social backlash, just as it happened with Old Mutual.

This was a sensationalist stunt, fueled by our click-seeking journalists and everyone in general is expected to be tolerant of such nonsense, compounded by the recreational outrage towards an entity like Old Mutual because the message is that "they're fscking the little guy".

 

[Splinter]

how is that relevant to old mutual paying out his claim??

Well, it could impact on who you pay the policy amount to.

 

[Nerfherder]

Still doesn't excuse either parties behaviour! I also had issues when my father passed. I ascribe it to lack of interest and incompetence.

Look its pretty bizarre and macabre but I understand their frustration.

 

[Lindiswa]

Well, it could impact on who you pay the policy amount to.

i am sure there are beneficiaries.

 

[Tokolotshe]

I wonder if this will work with a certain cell provider who insists on sending marketing, accounts etc to a deceased, insists on a month termination notice, after they had been duly notified he is deceased.

The evil side of me sees distinct possibilities to clear out a mall ...

 

[cavedog]

GEESUS...

And Rural KZN so on SASSA also... FML!

Eshowe is not Rural unless they live like kilometres away from Eshowe and it's the closest town.