A South African court ruled on a woman, Viantha Naidoo claimed the late mother’s R6 million life insurance policy after her mother, Sandra Naidoo, exaggerated her income when applying for coverage.
Judge Mahendra Chetty of the Durban High Court dismissed the claim, which the insurer found to have been tagged in 2016 after his death in January of that year for natural reasons. Discovery claims that Sandra misrepresented her monthly salary in her application, noting that she won R35,000 (R35,000) in Chatsworth Shoprite, when in fact, she actually earned only R5,500 and had a salary of R3,600. Discovery believes that if the correct income is disclosed, her insurance will be limited to R1.2 million, or even refuse.
Discovery further complicates the case, showing that Sandra also adopted a reciprocity policy with the ancient ones that effectively made her insured on the same day she applied for the discovery policy. The court ruled that Sandra expanded her income to R70,000 (R70,000) in her application for Old Reciprocity, and the company paid R3.3 million to Naidoo when she claimed her mother died.
“I am satisfied with the plaintiff [Naidoo] Justice Seti ruled that Sandra Naidoo’s statements and non-disclosure of important information were refused to pay death benefits to the beneficiary and therefore failed to prove his case.
Naidoo also confiscated his mother’s premium, part of the fine that was found imposed. She claimed that her mother was Avon’s sales representative and dividends from her family-run business received additional income, but could not provide enough evidence to support these claims. A manager at Avon testified that Sandra was not part of their team, further undermining Naidoo’s case.
Discovery provided evidence, including Payslips and Bank statements, proving that Sandra exaggerated her salary, a fact confirmed by Shoprite’s HR manager. Judge Chetty pointed out that if Sandra correctly disclosed her actual salary, Discovery would not be able to provide the life insurance granted. He also stressed that Sandra’s insurance application was completed with the assistance of a broker, who was investigated for becoming a joint organization that deceived the insurance company by exaggerating the income of its clients to ensure higher coverage.
