Active since May 2011
My vehicle was towed by Kurts Towing to Black Diamond Panelbeater after an accident in February 2023. The tow driver said that they were contracted to my insurer, only to find that this is not true. They then wanted over R15 000 for towing and 3 days of storage. Insurance disputed this and went to court. On the 23rd of June 2023 court ruled in favour of insurance. The Sheriff has been to their address twice and could not find the vehicle. The first time they claimed the sheriff went to the wrong address. Their manager Alvin assured me my vehicle was still there. The Sheriff went the second time and found Alvin but not the vehicle 21 November 2023 I was contacted by Candice the receptionist claiming that their finance lady Desiree Stephens wanted to discuss the matter and resolve it amicably. They wanted me to pay R15 000 for storage which they claimed was a discount since the vehicle owed more. We went back and forth. 1 December 2023 I went to their offices. They told me the vehicle had been moved to Kurt's towing yard. A guy who identified himself as Chris came and took me to the so-called yard. The guy wanted the money in cash since they did not have a card facility. I got to the address the vehicle had been stripped completely. They claim there was a break-in at their facility. I went back to a black diamond to show them the pictures and they said that since they have moved the vehicle after the dispute with insurance they were not responsible for the damage caused. I sent photos of the damaged vehicle to insurance, and insurance sent a tow company for the s****. The driver went to Black Diamond Panelbeater's address and Candice claimed not to know the vehicle in question. The tow company called me and since I was still in the vicinity I drove back to show the driver where the vehicle was kept. While talking to the tow driver multiple vehicles arrived and blocked the entrance of the yard as if to intimidate us. The s**** is still in their possession as they still claim their owed money despite a court having ruled on the matter.
On the 20th of February 2023, I had a motor vehicle accident. The vehicle is owned by my father and insured with Santam. The vehicle was towed by Kurt Towing to Black Diamond Panel Beaters in Durban. There was a payment dispute with the panel beater and the matter went to court. Before the matter went to court I called Santam and offered to settle the amount in dispute and was informed that since the matter was now with their lawyers I could not do that. The court ruled that the vehicle be released. Black Diamond Panelbeaters keeps moving the vehicle and the Sheriff of the court has been there twice and could not find the vehicle. Santam through their lawyers is pursuing a contempt of court application against the panel beater. Now here is my issue Santam has withdrawn the claim. They say they cannot process the claim as the vehicle was never in their possession and their assessor could not provide pictures of the damage to the vehicle. They claim they have done all in their power to help us and that we have to get the vehicle from the panel beater at our own cost, as the owners of the vehicle. When the vehicle is in our possession then they will re-instate the claim. When asked why are they expecting us to get the vehicle at our cost when we were not allowed to do that in March. The answer is that now they have exhausted all legal avenues and can't help us anymore. On the 1st of December 2023, I was able to locate the vehicle at an address where it was moved to. I took pictures of the condition of the vehicle. I sent the pictures to Santam and Santam authorized a tow truck to take the s**** to auction action. The owner of the yard still refused to release the vehicle. I was unable to get help from SAPS . Santam now has pictures of the state of the vehicle and the address where the vehicle is kept yet again they refuse to finalize the claim cause yet again they claim that we need to get the s**** released at our own cost. I asked the Santam claim agent why are they not sending the sheriff again to the new address and the response was that their priority now is the contempt of court application. How is the contempt of court conviction going to help close the matter? Surely Sanatm can do better.
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