Old Mutual SA vows to improve services in wake of negative backlash. Picture: Simphiwe Mbokazi
Old Mutual SA has finally come to an arrangement in settling the payment of a R3 million pension payment of an irate family, and vowed to step up and improve its services in the wake of heartbreaking stories shared by families left short-changed by them.
Following a meeting between Old Mutual, Sebabatso Molefi and her mother’s legal representative yesterday, the insurer announced they had a positive and fruitful engagement.
Celiwe Ross, spokesperson for Old Mutual SA, in thanking the family for making the time to meet with representatives, apologised to the family for the way the issue was handled by the company in recent days.
Ross explained that the insurer recognised that this had been a frustrating encounter for the family. She reiterated that the company had been reluctant to engage and debate on X, formerly Twitter, stemming from the complexities of the case and Old Mutual SA’s duty to protect the personal information of the individuals involved.
“The sheer number of customers who have voiced their unhappiness on X with regards to our levels of service is of huge concern to us.
“We apologise unreservedly to all customers who have been unhappy with the service we have provided and we are continuously looking at ways to improve this,” she said.
Molefi also shared an update on her personal X account @Seba_S_M shortly afterwards to update social media users who had supported the family.
“Myself and mama’s lawyer’s, Morolong Inc, met with Old Mutual this morning. The meeting was positive. Old Mutual tabled two options towards a full and final settlement of the matter. We have requested further information/clarity on each, subsequent to which we will take the final decision.”
She added: “I would like to thank everyone for the continued support on this journey.”
Despite this positive update in the situation, some social media users remained adamant about ensuring that as many people as possible cancelled their investments with the insurer.
“How about other families you scammed? There's a video of a father who wanted his R10 000 to bury his child. This is just one of thousands of terrible stories about your poor service,” commented user @nkulipp.
User @XoliswaKeke added: “So you apologise, but you’re not offering any solutions in terms of what all those people who raised their issues here after having been unsuccessful with your company must do. Okay.”
The insurer came under fire after Molefi expressed her frustration on X, blasting the company for stalling in paying out her mother’s R3 million pension investment even after the family secured a court order on December 14, 2023.
As if that was not enough, former employees accused the insurer of mistreating its staff and forcing them to pay for the instalments missed by clients signed up by them.
X user @ceekaylab, claimed to be a former employee of the company, alleging she was left with a bill of R160 000 from the company which she has been paying off for the past four years.
In screenshots shared alongside Molefi’s complaints, the former employee claimed they had worked at Old Mutual between August and November 2018, where a clause existed in their contracts that if an individual missed a contribution on a policy, the employee who signed up the individual must pay for the missed contribution out of their own salary.
Even with this information doing the rounds, the insurer has made no comment on the allegations.
The Star
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