An insurance company has been ordered to pay a client more than R786,000 after it failed to inform her of a new tracking device requirement, resulting in the rejection of her valid claim for the theft of her motor vehicle.
Theresa Ralph took Efficient Insure Advisory Services to the office of the ombud for financial services providers after her theft claim was rejected by the company on the basis that she failed to add a tracking device to the Toyota Prado she bought in December 2021.
The car was not deemed high risk for theft at the time, but it was stolen in November 2023 during an armed robbery.
In their defence, the insurance company said that in April 2023, it imposed a new tracking requirement for Ralphs vehicle and that on April 28 2023, an email was sent to her work email address regarding the requirement. This was followed by other emails in May and August 2023 to remind her about the change.
Ralph said she had not seen the emails. The company said it could not be held responsible for a third party blocking or hindering their communication with Ralph, who should have reasonably checked for important communication that is auto-spammed and resolved the issue with her employer.