Our Client reported damages to their entire fire system/security cameras etc. as a result of lightning during April this year. When the Insurers checked the weather patterns during April with the SA Weather Bureau (SAWB), they were assured that there had been absolutely no lightning activity in the area during April, and they supplied a report to verify this. The Insurers used the report, received from the SAWB, to repudiate the claim for lightning. They were adamant they would only pay the reduced amount of R20,000 for a power surge.
Our client was infuriated and devastated. We obtained witness statements from the guards on duty at the gate that day, the Maintenance Manager (who was called at home, 7 kms away), Admin staff and video footage of the storm was supplied. This was presented to the insurance company who had refuted the claim.
We, at SATIB, value our clients, and are willing to go the extra mile whenever we can. In this case, collating factual and overwhelming evidence to prove and confirm there WAS a storm and lightning on that day.
During the investigative stages of the claim, our client terminated their contract with the insurer. This made our negotiations with them more difficult; they continued to stand their ground and dispute the lightening damage claim.
With time, much persuasion and elevating the matter to senior management, we obtained settlement, IN FULL, for our client. They were both relieved and delighted by the outcome, and we received a wonderfully rewarding email thereafter, which read;
“Had you not gone the extra mile, we would have had to accept the reduced Sum Insured for “power surge” of R20,000 instead of what we were entitled to, approximately R148, 000.”