Sowetan Consumer rescued a hijacking victim whose R150,000 insurance claim was initially rejected by Cartrack.
It took the company less than 24 hours after Sowetan Consumer contacted it to revoke its decision to repudiate Nicholas Thwala’s Limited Recovery Warranty, which promises up to R150,000 compensation if a stolen vehicle cannot be recovered.
They rejected his claim on two grounds: historically inconsistent monthly payments and not calling Cartrack every three months to check if the tracker is in working condition. This, despite his account being in good standing when he renewed it two months before his hijacking ordeal.
After more than a month of trying to resolve the matter with the company, Thwala reached out to Sowetan Consumer. We escalated his grievance to the company on Thursday last week, and the following day Cartrack conceded that an administrative error occurred during their handling of Thwala’s claim.
“It was an administrative error whereby two customers had similar names, and the wrong case was evaluated ... Mr Thwala complied with all the terms and conditions. We hereby confirm that the reward for complying with all the terms and conditions has been processed,” said the company’s spokesperson Lauren Human.
Asked why Cartrack was compelling its customers to call them every three months to test their vehicle tracker devices, Human said clients were best positioned to know the operational status of their vehicles.
“At times, vehicles may be unconnected to our cloud for extended periods for reasons beyond our control. When a vehicle is out of network coverage, preventing us from contacting the tracking device, we will not know whether there is a technical issue. This requirement is therefore critical for us to establish whether uncontactable vehicles are due to coverage or another cause,” said Human.
Although relieved by the outcome, Thwala said it would be difficult to trust the company in the future.
“I’m not happy with the way they handled my claim. I went to them to claim during the most traumatic experience of my life. I had been hijacked and had a gun pointed at me for five hours in Mamelodi [Tshwane] while my capturers emptied my bank account and wrecked my car looking for the tracker.
“All I needed from Cartrack was to show a bit of sympathy by paying me out so that I can get my life back in order, but they treated me like I was in the wrong. If a legitimate claim can be handled in this manner, what about other disadvantaged clients who might give up the fight at the sight of a rejection letter? Thank God, I did my research and came to Sowetan for help,” said Thwala.
All I needed from Cartrack was to show a bit of sympathy by paying me out so that I can get my life back in order, but they treated me like I was in the wrong.
— Nicholus Thwala
He has also approached the National Consumer Commission (NCC) for help.
The NCC has received similar complaints about calling in every three months to check if the tracker is in working, and these are under investigation, spokesperson Phetho Ntaba said.
Thwala had been with Cartrack since 2022, but had to skip a few payments due to financial difficulties. By late last year his account was up to date, and in June this year Cartrack called him to renew his contract, which he did. During the call, the agent did not ask him about his past payment behaviour.
“That issue [nonpayment] only came up when they rejected my claim. In other words, Cartrack was denying my claim based on payment reversals that happened years before, during an old contract that had already expired and was renewed,” said Thwala.
Sowetan
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