FIRST-TIME car buyers are more susceptible to falling victim to unscrupulous car dealers and at times are also taken for a ride by insurance companies that offer them dubious cover.

Take the case of Thulisile Mkhize of KwaMakhutha in KwaZulu-Natal who bought a second-hand car this year and insured it through Affinity Underwriters in April.

Mkhize's Toyota Auris was covered for its retail value, which meant that if it was written off, stolen or hijacked without being recovered, the settlement would be based on its retail value, excluding the excess amount.

This type of cover allows a consumer to replace the car with the same model. Mkhize's car was insured for its retail value of R104300.

It was only after Mkhize was involved in an accident in June that she discovered a lot of problematic conditions stipulated in her contract.

She said her policy did not stipulate what she was covered for and she only found out about certain conditions later.

"Getting clarity after taking the policy was unsuccessful as they always promised to come back to me, in vain," Mkhize says

For example, she was not aware that her cover limited her to accidents that occurred between 5am and 9pm until she lodged her accident claim.

"I was also shocked when I [was] penalised R20000 and it took Affinity Underwriters more than 24 hours to inspect it," she said.

Even though she was not to blame for the delayed inspection, Affinity Underwriters had the audacity to penalise her for its delay, she says.

Affinity Underwriters charged her R7650 for being involved in an accident after 9pm, despite Mkhize's accident having happened before the curfew - at 8pm.

These charges by the insurer were supposed to be deducted from the settlement amount.

When an agitated Mkhize approached Consumer Line to help her understand the terms and conditions imposed by Affinity Underwriters and why they wanted to charge her, we referred her inquiry to the Ombudsman for Short-term Insurance (Osti).

Initially, Affinity Underwriters wanted to pay Mkhize R70000 after it had written off her car. Osti and the insurer reached an agreement after the ombudsman ordered it to pay Mkhize R101240.

After this, however, Affinity Underwriters has neglected to settle Mkhize's car loan.

Now, every time Mkhize inquires about when it is going to settle, she is referred back to the ombudsman's office.

Mkhize said the impasse was also putting a strain on her relationship with her fiancé as the stress has resulted in them getting into silly fights.

"My fiancé is trying to help me buy another vehicle but it cannot be done because I still owe the bank," she said.

Even though Affinity Underwriters had refused to honour the ombudsman's ruling and written off the car, Mkhize continues to pay the R3345 monthly instalment on her car as her account is still being debited.

Debbie Black, the team leader of Affinity Underwriters' claims department, says she is not in a position to provide any feedback relating to Mkhize's complaint. She says they have referred her matter to the ombudsman. She said Mkhize would have to contact the ombudsman's office.

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