Premium jumped from R313 to R22 000

[mvww]

Although the issue is hopefully being resolved, I want to share my experience, if only for entertainment value.

The contents of my home is insured with Absa Insurance, and my monthly premium is around R313. Imagine my surprise when they debited my account on March 31st with more than R22 000. It transpired that the mistake was made by Absa Insurance's administrator, Brolink. Being on Saturday of the long weekend, you can imagine how bad is was having your bank account emptied like that. I had only R1 800 left, and many bills were waiting to be paid.

Although I've reported the mistake as soon as possible, early on Tuesday morning, I have not been refunded yet. One would think the companies involved would jump through a few hoops to rectify a huge mistake like that, but they seem quite casual about it, obviously regarding it as just an administration glitch.

Life sure is interesting sometimes.

 

[Kosmik]

You can also hold them accountable for any loss/penalties due to rejected orders by lack of funds.

 

[Nithan15]

Anyone here an insurance broker?

 

[Sinbad]

No but I have a good one

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

companies these days will debit you insane amounts and then hide behind a wall of not my problem,

I would even try to go so far as sue them for such a mistake, as its completely unacceptable to make such a mistake.

 

[VikashLurker]

I can say with confidence this will NEVER happen to me.

I will never have that sort of cash in my bank account at any given time! OP is ballin ...

 

[mvww]

Update: Brolink said they will reimburse me today. (Luckily I had no rejected debit orders as I had some money in my credit account which I transferred to my cheque account to tide me over).

 

[Tomtomtom]

The contents of my home is insured with Absa Insurance, and my monthly premium is around R313. Imagine my surprise when they debited my account on March 31st with more than R22 000.

It's high time for a new debit order system in SA. The mechanics of this feel like they date back to a time when women were not allowed their own bank accounts. It's a patriarchal relic.

Why aren't debit orders loaded as authorizations for manual approval? Or as recurring payments, appearing alongside all the others?

 

[Nithan15]

No but I have a good one

Can you PM me details Bro

 

[satanboy]

You can also hold them accountable for any loss/penalties due to rejected orders by lack of funds.

▲▲
This

 

[satanboy]

I can say with confidence this will NEVER happen to me.

I will never have that sort of cash in my bank account at any given time! OP is ballin ...

Shame

 

[Voicy]

It's high time for a new debit order system in SA. The mechanics of this feel like they date back to a time when women were not allowed their own bank accounts. It's a patriarchal relic.

Why aren't debit orders loaded as authorizations for manual approval? Or as recurring payments, appearing alongside all the others?

Yeah it's crazy how just about any company can take money from your account, seeing as how you sign the debit order with them and not the bank.

Here in Norway they have quite a cool system called "avtalegiro" or "agreement/deal debit".

When you sign up for a service, the company submits an avtalegiro to your bank account which appears in your online banking (or you can get a form that you fill out and submit to YOUR bank.)

You then approve the "request for debit order" and manually select the debit order date and amount (flexible amounts update automatically). You then also select "upper limits" to avoid overdraws like OP had, but that still caters for flexible debit orders.

You can at any time cancel the agreement which then blocks the debit order from being processed.

 

[akescpt]

Yeah it's crazy how just about any company can take money from your account, seeing as how you sign the debit order with them and not the bank.

Here in Norway they have quite a cool system called "avtalegiro" or "agreement/deal debit".

When you sign up for a service, the company submits an avtalegiro to your bank account which appears in your online banking (or you can get a form that you fill out and submit to YOUR bank.)

You then approve the "request for debit order" and manually select the debit order date and amount (flexible amounts update automatically). You then also select "upper limits" to avoid overdraws like OP had, but that still caters for flexible debit orders.

You can at any time cancel the agreement which then blocks the debit order from being processed.

this wont work here. the crooks wont profit.

 

[NeonNinja]

I can say with confidence this will NEVER happen to me.

I will never have that sort of cash in my bank account at any given time! OP is ballin ...

Where do you keep your cash?

 

[VikashLurker]

Shame

It's a crying...

 

[VikashLurker]

Where do you keep your cash?

Under the matros boss.

 

[RoosTa]

It's high time for a new debit order system in SA. The mechanics of this feel like they date back to a time when women were not allowed their own bank accounts. It's a patriarchal relic.

Why aren't debit orders loaded as authorizations for manual approval? Or as recurring payments, appearing alongside all the others?

I totally agree with you. Banks need to scrap debit orders entirely.

What baffles me is that out of the blue, I was debited by Multichoice even though I had cancelled my account many years ago. I immediately phoned the bank and reversed it. To this day, I get hounded by Multichoice because I "owe" them money.

Why do they still have my details on the system, and why are they allowed to debit my account without any authorization?

 

[ToxicBunny]

I totally agree with you. Banks need to scrap debit orders entirely.

What baffles me is that out of the blue, I was debited by Multichoice even though I had cancelled my account many years ago. I immediately phoned the bank and reversed it. To this day, I get hounded by Multichoice because I "owe" them money.

Why do they still have my details on the system, and why are they allowed to debit my account without any authorization?

Because you previously gave them authorisation, and technically it is never really rescinded.

 

[mvww]

Update: Morning has come and morning has gone. Now almost half past three and still no money.

 

[Pho3nix]

Just reverse the debit order?