The most complained about insurers in South Africa
Old Mutual is the insurer that has the most complaints in South Africa.
The Ombudsman for Long-term Insurance (OLTI) and the Ombudsman for Short-term Insurance (OSTI) have published their latest joint annual report for 2023. Both ombuds have been incorporated into the National Financial Ombud Scheme South Africa (NFO).
The OLTI and OSTI jointly placed over R386 million in the hands of complainants, with the OLTI recovering R283 million in lump sums for them, while the OSTI recovered R102.6 million.
Over the year, the OLTI received 13,750 written requests for assistance, of which 6,714 were chargeable complaints within its jurisdiction.
This represented a decline of 16.7% and 5.8%, respectively, compared to the prior year and indicated that there had been a return to pre-Covid levels.
Complaints about claims accounted for 50.3% of total complaints, followed by funeral benefits at 44% and life policies at 34%.
When looking at OLTIs, Old Mutual Life Assurance received the most companies, 1,123—roughly 16% of all claims.
It was followed by the Liberty Group (710) and Hollard Life (550),
Because bigger insurers with more clients are likely to draw more complaints, another important metric to look at is the number of complaints that were resolved in favour of the complainant.
By this measure, Hollard Life had the most cases, with 114 of 301 finalised cases resolved in favour of complainants – or 38%.
By comparison, even though Old Mutual had the most complaints, only 100 of 416 cases finalised were in favour of complainants (24%).
The OSTI ended 2023 with 5.6% more new complaints and finalised 1.2% more complaints than the previous year.
There were 12,188 registered complaints, while 10,534 complaints were closed.
Roughly 40% of all complaints were from motor vehicle insurance, with the majority involving accident-related claims that had been declined due to an exclusion in the policy.
The main exclusion was a lack of due care or precaution in preventing or minimising the loss, mainly for claims involving speeding. This was followed by misrepresentation or non-disclosure at the time of taking out the policy, during the policy’s term, and at the claim’s stage.
The second-highest number of complaints (roughly 25%) was linked to homeowners’ claims declining due to policy exclusions.
Most of these claims related to damage caused by acts of nature and declined on the basis of gradual deterioration, lack of maintenance and wear and tear, followed by flaws in design or construction.
Overall, Old Mutual Insure has the most complaints regarding short-term insurance at 998.
However, unlike the data from the OLTI, the OSTI also looked at the number of complaints received per 1,000 claims.
Despite having the most complaints, the OSTI, Old Mutal Insure, only had 4.740 complaints per 1,000 claims.
Santam Structured Insurance kept its crown for having the most complaints per 1,000 claims at 21.223.
This was double that of New National Assurance at 10.628:
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