Mojanaga wins burial policy battle

When Desiree Mojanaga took a life cover for the man she called her uncle in 2013 she never thought she would seek legal and media help to compel 1Life Funeral cover to settle her death claim.

Mojanaga, 37, of Craigavon Park in Fourways, Johannesburg.

She said her problem began when she lodged a claim after the death of her uncle on January 5.

Mojanaga said 1Life Insurance undermined and questioned her relationship with her dead uncle and accused her of submitting fraudulent documents she had obtained from Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital.

Mojanaga is not related by blood to the late Sydney Sithole, but she regarded him as a father figure as he had looked after her and her family since 1999.

She said Sithole was also regarded as her family member by relatives and friends.

"We were close to him as he was estranged to his family (and) I later took a life cover for him," she said.

When he was no longer employed she bought a funeral policy in his favour so that he could get a decent burial, she said.

Mojanaga said she got a shock of her life when 1Life rejected her claim because they questioned her relationship with the late Sithole, a fact that they did not interrogate when she took out the policy.

She said 1Life does not recognise that the fabric of black families recognises people who brought you up as your relatives.

"Black people bury each other and we also take out policies for members of our families so that we can give them a decent funeral.

"We do this even if we are not related by blood. This is ubuntu," she said.

She said days after lodging her claim on January 20 she received a telephone call from Aldene Swartz, representing 1Life insurance, to meet her and discuss her claim.

"Instead I was subjected to an intense interrogation, intimidation and unfounded accusation of fraud," she said.

Mojanaga said to complete her claim forms she went to Baragwanath mortuary to get the correct information and this is why she was a victim of this unfair business practice, she said.

1Life insurance also cancelled two other policies she had with them and refused to refund all the premiums she had paid over the years, she said.

"Apart from this they debited my account without my permission and for a policy I did not buy and still kept my money," she said.

Mojanaga approached Consumer Line to expose this unfair business practice.

Within 36 hours after Consumer Line took up her matter 1Life Insurance settled her claim on Monday.

Laurence Hillman, managing director at 1Life, said they were committed to paying all the valid claims and providing exceptional service and timely turnaround on all submissions.

He said there were procedures to be followed whenever a claim was made.

These included the collection and assessment of documents related to the cause of the claim, he said.

Hillman said Mojananga's claim experienced a few delays in processing due to some discrepancies in the documents that were submitted to them.

He said her claim of R50000 for her uncle's death had been fully settled. All premium refunds due to her were being processed for payment, he added.

He said 1Life had been proactive in structuring their funeral products to meet the funeral needs of the extended families going beyond the traditional family structure, in order to take account of the cultural diversity within South Africa.

Hillman did not say whether they would also settle the legal fees Mojanaga had incurred as a result of this battle.