Motorist refers R150k Cartrack claim to ombudsman

A motorist has lodged a complaint with the ombudsman against a vehicle tracking company for rejecting his claim because he allegedly failed to test his tracker device every three months. 

Mokgolale Maleka of Tshwane had lodged a recovery warranty claim with Cartrack recently following his hijacking ordeal in July. The warranty is a cashback given to clients with selected packages in the event their vehicle is not recovered as in the case of Maleka. 

According to Maleka, the R150,000 cashback warranty is given to those who have packages from R150 per month and above and they have to pay their premiums without skipping. He subscribed for the tracker in November last year when he bought his Toyota Hilux bakkie.

The premium on the tracker is R199 per month.

A letter from the company said Maleka’s claim was rejected because he had failed to call them and test if the device was working properly since the beginning of his subscription.

The company told Sowetan that testing was necessary because at times the vehicle was out of coverage for long periods and they were unable to contact the vehicle despite everything being in order.

“This requirement is critical for us to establish whether uncontactable vehicles are due to coverage or technical issues. Further, if we make exceptions on the conditions, our recovery rate will be negatively impacted,” Lauren Human from Cartrack said. 

The company referred Maleka to clause 10 which states: “It is the responsibility of the client to contact the Cartrack control centre for a unit test to be carried out... The client must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the unit is in proper working order and must immediately or as soon as is practically possible report any unit faults and/or failures to Cartrack in order for Cartrack to provide the service.”

The email from the company further said: “Whilst we sympathise with you for the distress and inconvenience experienced as a result of the loss, we must remind you that it is the client’s responsibility to be aware of the terms and conditions of the agreement. In this premise, we regret to inform you that you do not qualify for the limited recovery warranty.”

However, Maleka argued that the unit had no faults and he also provided his trip log that shows that the devices were active until the day he was hijacked along the N4 near Emalahleni, Mpumalanga, on July 10. 

“Prior to the hijacking, I would accidentally forget to switch off the WatchCar button, a feature that alerts me when someone has touched my car. Every time I would get an alert, a Cartracker agent would call me to check if everything is fine and because of that, I didn’t think there was a need for me to keep calling them every three months to test the device,” said Maleka. 

Human accepted that Maleka’s device was not faulty before the hijacking.

“The terms and conditions are strictly applied in all cases as to avoid discrepancy judgements. We keep the rules simple. This does not detract from the customer’s warranty obligations,” said Human.

Most people aren’t aware of the tracker clauses that require them to take the initiative and test their devices.

In July, Sowetan Consumer wrote about Vinolia Vilakazi’s whose car was stolen from her Soweto home in March.

When she alerted her car tracking company, Matrix Vehicle Tracking, of the car theft, she was shocked to discover that the tracking device had not been active since 2021.

As a result, Matrix could not trace the whereabouts of her Nissan Almera.

Maleka was advised to lodge a complaint with the Motor Industry Ombudsman SA, which he did last month and is waiting for the outcome of their investigation. 

Human said they would offer Maleka 36 months of free service on a new vehicle.

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