By Ndumiso Tshuma
Several beneficiaries have come forward claiming that Kingdom Blue agents ‘forgot’ to fill in certain critical information in their funeral coverage forms resulting in one family having to self fund their deceased’s relative burial costs.
According to the beneficiaries, the policy stated if particular information is not provided, the burial may be postponed or cancelled.
One client experienced such a scenario in which Kingdom Blue refused to move forward with the funeral preparations for their deceased relative due to a missing birth number on the policy form.
Even though the agent was given all the information required, the omission halted the burial procedure, adding to the distress of the bereaved family.
“I gave the agent all the details to fill out but when the deceased passed on ,in their policy that i asked the agent to fill out, the birth date number of the deceased was missing ,therefore the company refused to go on with the burial and they refused to give me my money back even though the mistake was done by their agent,” said a source who is part of the 11 disgruntled clients.
The client told CITE the members had diligently provided all necessary details to the company’s agent, and was shocked to discover that a crucial birth date number was missing from the policy form, resulting in Kingdom Blue’s refusal to proceed with the burial arrangements.
Expressing severe irritation and disappointment, the client revealed they had been paying for this policy for three years and had to use another funeral service provider when the death occurred.
“As a group of members, we had faithfully paid US$110 every month for three years towards the funeral policy, only to face a sudden roadblock when the time came to honor our brother’s passing last year in December,” said the client.
“The absence of the birth date number on the policy form became a barrier, halting the burial process and leaving my family in a state of distress, because this was a mistake done by them not us.”
In response to the clients’ allegations of policy mishandling and denial of burial services, Kingdom Blue Funeral Service Marketing Director Mbongiseni Ncube denied refusing to bury the deceased but clarified that certain conditions had to be met for claim approval.
“We do not have premiums that amount to $110 monthly unless it involves other members. One of the primary requirements is that the deceased must be registered in the system, with the provision of a date of birth and ID number for registration purposes,” he said.
“Furthermore, the date of birth plays a crucial role in determining the waiting period for policy benefits, as per the terms and conditions stipulated by Kingdom Blue. Any delay in submitting the date of birth may impact the calculation of the waiting period, starting from the date of submission.”
The Marketing Director also highlighted key conditions related to waiting periods, grace periods, and policy lapses, all of which, he claimed, were outlined in the clients’ policy documents for reference.
While acknowledging the clients’ distressing experiences, Ncube expressed a willingness to investigate the matter further.
However, due to a lack of specific information on the policy and the agent involved in that matter, the marketing director urged the aggrieved policyholders to visit their offices and engage with their claims manager for a thorough investigation.
“The whole group can come to our offices so that we can discuss the issue. It would be a good idea to. As for groups, we have three sources of data which are the application form , policy document and a counter book in which group members write or fill in their dependents to submit to us,” Ncube said.
He added that Kingdom Blue encourages open dialogue and collaboration with affected parties to resolve issues effectively.
“If details are found in one of the source documents , a claim has a high probability of being honoured after assessing all the terms and conditions regarding the claim,” said the marketing director.
