Good day My father took out a life insur...

Asked by the Customer on 25-08-2020 11:22:40
Question posted in the Insurance Law category relating to Gauteng

Good day 

My father took out a life insurance policy with an insurance provider in October 1991 whith a maturity date of November 2021, with myself being the beneficiary.  He passed away in March 1992.  My mother went to follow up on the insurance in May 2992 after his passing away and she was issued with an endorsement letter that stated that the policy would continue on my life. 

I've been trying to follow up on the insurance policy (before maturity date) and I've been informed by the Insurance Provider that the policy lapsed in November 1991 and that the endorsement letter was issued in error. 

I've taken the matter to the Ombuds for Long Term Insurance and the conclusion was that it is reasonably expected that for the policy to have continued, premiums should've been paid. On raising the element of misrepresentation by the insurance provider (that the policy is continuing on my life, while it had supposedly lapsed and therefore preventing corrective measures and creating expectation), a minimal/considered unreasonable offer for damages has been made by the Insurance Provider.  This offer has not been accepted.

Can you please advise on whether suing for damages due to misrepresentation can be effective in this instance.

Kind regards

Lydia Bam 

0825443685

Message from the Attorney

Posted by Att. Patrick on 26-08-2020 16:01:45

Hi there,

I see that you haven't made a payment for the question, but I'm going to assist you a little. If you want to ask a follow-up question, please make the required payment.

Were the premiums on the life insurance policy paid from November 1991 (or from March 1992) to the date that you put in a claim?

Att. Patrick

Please remember this is a dialog if you have follow-up questions please make the required payment, then use the REPLY button and ask your further question. I would like to continue assisting you, but I need to concentrate on people who make payments for their questions.

If you would like to view the entire answer, you will need to either login or register a FREE account.

Disclaimer

DISCLAIMER: Advice or answers from Lawyers on South African Legal Advice are not substitutes for the proper advice of an Lawyer. South African Legal Advice is a public forum and questions and responses are not private or confidential or protected by the attorney-client privilege. The Lawyer who assists with your question is not your Lawyer, and the response above is not to be considered to be legal advice. You should not read this response to propose specific action or address specific circumstances, but only to give you a sense of general principles of law that might affect the situation you describe. Application of these general principles to particular circumstances must be done by a lawyer who has spoken with you in confidence, learned all relevant information, and explored various options. Before acting on these general principles, you should hire a lawyer licensed to practice law in the jurisdiction to which your question pertains. The responses above are from individual Lawyers, not South African Legal Advice. The site and services are provided “as is”. This site is not for emergency questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals. Please carefully read the Terms of Service.