Insurance companies, claims and service

And these three things should never be mentioned in the same sentence!!!! It's much like - Military Intelligence - DUH!!!

Ok, so I sent off an email to my short term insurance company, following what I perceive to be poor service. This is it.

Good day,
I send this email to the above address as it was the only email address I could find on your website that was not directed at a single point. I trust that this will get to either your PR manager, or any other person who will look into customer satisfaction and related issues.

Generally, I am / was impressed to date with the service I have got from xx Insurance. I have my motor cars and household on cover with xx Insurance. Your prices were/are  good/competitive, adding new vehicles, and removing old ones was always dealt with promptly.

On my first claim, my claim was dealt with very quickly and professionally, and the problem sorted out with no hiccups.

However, this time, I must say I have been very disappointed with the service I have received. Firstly, I did not get any response to my email sent to two people I have dealt with before. Then I finally found a claim form online, but had no where to fax it to. Eventually I got told that I had to send it to a named person in Cape Town. Done.
I then got a call to say they needed a faxed copy of my drivers license - this was within hours of my submitting the claim. Done. Then I didn't hear anything for 2 days, so I called, and was told she was still waiting for my drivers license!?! So, if I didn't call, how long was she planning to wait before contacting me? Surely this could have been done within 24 hours of the original request? 
So I resent it. Then I got informed of the selection of the assessor. He was excellent, and even came to my offices to do the assessment. This was late last week. He said he would put through his report that afternoon. I waited till today and decided to call the lady working with my claim. She informed me that they had given the go ahead to the repair company last week already, and it was for them to contact me!!! 
Surely not! The least I would expect from my insurance company is for them to let me know that my claim has been approved, and that I can take the car in for repairs.!!

So, I have called the repair shop, and made the necessary arrangements. Typically, they don't know when the approval came through, other than the document he had with him apparently states 25 September!?!?!?!

I don't know what my excess is to be. I don't know if xx Insurance will be claiming this back from the 3rd party on my behalf. Very poor service I think, and not typical from a company that I have had the pleasure of working with for over a year now.

Policy Number xxxx-xx

So, I get this response.

Dear Mr (Euroafrican)

Claim no :  xxx/xxxxxx
Motor accident

I have tried to contact you on the telephone numbers as below but unfortunately you are not available. (She called once, and left a message. I called back and she said she had sent an email. We had a short chat, and cleared some stuff up.)

I would like to inform you that your car hire has been arranged and Carsure will be contacting you shortly. An amount of R750.00 is required by yourself to be paid as a petrol deposit and will be returned to you when the vehicle is returned to avis with a full petrol tank however when you take delivery of the vehicle as it will have a full tank. (avis should be spelt Avis)

Your excess which is due to the panel beater once your vehicle has been repaired is an amount of R2750.00

We confirm that the file is being sent to our legal department to the recovery aspect of the claim, however this procedure can take a while and therefore cannot confirm the time frame.

Your sincerely
Senior Claims Consultant

OK, so what am I missing here ? The problem is as follows:-  They do not address my complaint. In fact, they don't even mention it. Yup, they manage to evade the actual problem. So, as soon as the car is fixed, and all else is sorted, I will raise the issue again. My comment to her on the phone was "If this is the internal process, it's not good enough. I expect, as your client, to be informed of the progress of my claim. You cannot leave me to the mercy of some random person who works for a panel beating company to call me. What if, as in this case, he does nothing for 5 days? I am expected to be inconvenienced because you cant be bothered to communicate with me?"

Anyway, the cars getting fixed. The rental car is great. And while it's in the shop, I'm having the windscreen replaced as it's cracked through. More excess to be paid, but hey, in for a penny, in for a pound!

Salagatle!