Discovery Insure defends fair claim rejection in car theft case

DISCOVERY Insure maintained that in rejecting the claim of one of its clients after her car was stolen, it acted fairly and in terms of the agreement it entered into with all its customers, that the mandatory tracking device in these insured vehicles must be in working order.

- ZELDA VENTER

Nicole Hoolsema (plaintiff) recently turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, where she claimed an amount from Discovery Insure for her stolen vehicle. Discovery Insure, however, refused to pay her as it claimed the tracking device in her vehicle was faulty.

While the main matter must still serve before court, Hoolsema at this stage turned to court to amend her particulars of claim to include that, as far as she was aware, the tracker was in working order.

“The claim, submitted in November 2023, was declined because the car's tracking device was not working at the time of the loss, which is a condition of theft cover under the policy,” Eddie Maluleke, reputation manager at Discovery, said.