Insurance company, Momentum, has bowed to public pressure and now says it will pay the R2.4 million death benefit to the wife of a Durban man, who was killed while defending his wife during a hijacking.
Momentum had faced a storm of outrage after it refused to pay the claim because the victim, Nathan Ganas, had not disclosed his high blood sugar levels. People were angry that Momentum refused to pay the cash to Denise Ganas, of Shallcross.
In a media statement Momentum added that it had reflected on the criticism it received over the matter.
We’ve listened to your feedback & understand that this tragedy spans far beyond one victim. Therefore, we’d like to offer a solution for life cover claims related to the loss of a loved one due to violent crime. This includes the Ganas family: https://t.co/NaSTmuFriH #Momentum
— Momentum (@Momentum_za) November 20, 2018
High profile people also jumped in to put pressure on Momentum.
Please warn #Momentum
— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) November 19, 2018
Company CEO Johan Le Roux now says it will in future pay death benefit claims of up to R3 million to people killed in violent crimes – regardless of the medical history of the victim:
“We actually designed a brand new guarantee that we offer to all our clients where in a case of a violent crime event when they pass away and their benefits were reduced as a result of medical non-disclosure, we will pay an amount to effectively top up that benefit to the previous sum insured. We’ll makes it also available to the existing clients, future clients but also most importantly, retrospectively to clients in the past also as a result of medical un-disclosure that benefited amounts reduced. We actually in the process tracking those clients and we’ll engage with them in the next few weeks.”
Read Momentum statement below:
Watch video below:
