Renasa Insurance will have to pay out over R100,000 to a speeding driver
This ruling was passed by the FAIS Obmud, Charles Pillai
|
Renasa Insurance and its broker, Action Plan Management, will need to pay out
nearly R110,000 to a policyholder for the loss of her car, after the FAIS
ombud, Charles Pillai ruled that there is no leave for appeal in the case.
This month, it was decided that the driver had a right to claim the money
from Renasa Insurance, despite the fact that she was speeding at the time of the
accident.
The insurance company had claimed that Melishree Maduray of Phoenix had
contravened the "good citizen warranty" clause in her insurance policy, which
states that payments will not be made if the policyholder is not following the
law. In this case, it was claimed, Maduray had been speeding, thus breaking the
law.
However, Pillai found for the policyholder after he showed that nobody had
pointed this clause out to Maduray at the time of her taking out the insurance
and, worse, she had never been sent a copy of her insurance policy.
The FAIS ombud also said in his ruling that the good citizen warranty clause
was "oppressive and unreasonable". Elaborating on his opinions, he claimed that
it would be "impossible to find a driver who has not at some time or other
inadvertently, if not deliberately, contravened one or other road traffic law or
regulation."
Pillai also disputed Renasa Insurance and Action Plan Management's claim that
he was not allowed to rule on the matter as the ombudman for short term
insurance had already ruled in their favor.
He explained that the FAIS ombuds office works in a way that hears complaints
and resolves them in a fair and informal manner and therefore he was fully
entitled to reject their leave for appeal.
Email
Print
