Complaint Process

1. Introduction

The Unlimited Group (Pty) Limited (“The Unlimited”) is committed to treating our customers fairly and delivering fair outcomes to both our valued customers and recipients of our direct marketing calls. Our employees, irrespective of their role, are critical in delivering a great customer experience and ensuring that our customers are treated fairly. Our culture and values encourage and support our employees in this undertaking.

All Complaints will be dealt with in terms of our Complaint Management Framework (available on request) and this Complaint Process. 

2. Definitions

“Complaint” means an expression of dissatisfaction by a person to The Unlimited, one of its Insurers, DMASA, The Ombudsman, The Information Regulator or, to the knowledge of The Unlimited, to one of its Service Providers, relating to a policy or service provided or offered by The Unlimited, which indicates or alleges, regardless of whether such an expression of dissatisfaction is submitted together with or in relation to a Customer Query, that:

a. The Unlimited, one of its Insurers, or its Service Provider has contravened or failed to comply with an agreement, a law, a rule, or a code of conduct which is binding on The Unlimited or to which it subscribes;

b. The Unlimited, one of its Insurers, or its Service Provider’s maladministration or wilful or negligent action or failure to act, has caused a person harm, prejudice, distress or substantial inconvenience; or

c. The Unlimited, one of its Insurers or its Service Provider has treated the Complainant unfairly.

A ‘Complaint’ will exclude a Data Subject Request.

"Complainant" means a person who submits a Complaint and includes a–

a. customer;

b. person nominated as the person in respect of whom a product supplier should meet financial product benefits or that persons' successor in title;

c. person whose life is insured under a financial product that is an insurance policy;

d. person that pays a premium or an investment amount in respect of a financial product;

e. member;

f. person whose dissatisfaction relates to the approach, solicitation marketing or advertising material or an advertisement in respect of a financial product, financial service or related service of the provider;

g. data subject; or

h. person who has a direct interest in the agreement, financial product or financial service to which the Complaint relates, or a competent person acting on behalf of a person referred to in (a) to (g);

“Data Subject Request” means any:

a. request to confirm whether The Unlimited holds personal information about the requesting data subject;

b. request to access, correct, delete, or disclose the sources or recipients of, personal information;

c. withdrawal of consent to process personal information; or

d. objection to processing;

as set out in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 and/or Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000;

“DMASA” means the Direct Marketing Association of South Africa.

“Personal information” means information relating to an identifiable, living, natural person, and where it is applicable, an identifiable, existing juristic person, including, but not limited to:

a. information relating to the race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, national, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental health, well-being, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth of the person;

b. information relating to the education or the medical, financial, criminal or employment history of the person;

c. any identifying number, symbol, e-mail address, physical address, telephone number, location information, online identifier or other particular assignment to the person;

d. the biometric information of the person;

e. the personal opinions, views or preferences of the person;

f. correspondence sent by the person that is implicitly or explicitly of a private or confidential nature or further correspondence that would reveal the contents of the original correspondence;

g. the views or opinions of another individual about the person; and

h. the name of the person if it appears with other personal information relating to the person or if the disclosure of the name itself would reveal information about the person.

3. Principles

The Unlimited is committed to the following in respect of dealing with Complaints:

• To ensure the fair treatment of customers and recipients of our services, and efficient resolution of Complaints by trained staff;
• To ensure that Complaints data is recorded in a Complaint register and analysed to identify and address any recurring or systemic problems and potential and operational risks;
• To avoid conflicts of interest between a Complainant and The Unlimited;
• To ensure that the Complainant has access to, and understands, the Complaint process and is kept informed at all relevant times of the progress of their Complaint, as well as informed of escalation processes and access to relevant Ombudsman or supervisory body; and that
• Complainants are always treated with empathy and respect and considerations of equity are central to decision making.

A balanced approach is applied which means that we consider the interests of all parties involved, including the fair treatment of Complainants when making a decision.

4. The Process

If you would like to lodge a Complaint please do so by either calling us, emailing us or posting your Complaint:

4.1 FOR GENERAL COMPLAINTS:

▪ Email: info@theunlimited.co.za

▪ Postal Address: Private Bag X7028, Hillcrest, 3650

▪ Physical Address: 3 The Blvd, Dawncliffe, Westville, Durban, 3629

▪ Telephone: 0861 99 0000

Please include your policy number, identity number, details of your complaint and all supporting documents so that we can deal with your Complaint in the quickest possible time.

We’ll acknowledge receipt of the Complaint within 2 (two) business days of receipt and provide you with the name(s) and contact details of the person / department responsible for resolving it.

The Complaint will be investigated by the applicable department and you will be kept informed of the progress of your Complaint.

It is expected that Complaints will be resolved within 15 (fifteen) business days of receipt of the Complaint by The Unlimited. Where resolution takes longer than expected, you will be informed of reasons for the delay and provided with revised timelines.

Once we’ve resolved the Complaint, you’ll be contacted and informed of the outcome, either telephonically or in writing, whichever is suitable in the circumstances.

Where your Complaint is upheld, any commitment by The Unlimited will be carried out without delay and within any agreed timeframes. Where your Complaint is rejected, we will give you clear and adequate reasons for the decision and tell you about the applicable escalation process.

4.2 FOR COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE HANDLING OF PERSONAL INFORMATION:

▪ Email: dataprivacy@theunlimited.co.za

▪ Postal Address: Private Bag X7028, Hillcrest, 3650

▪ Physical Address: 1 Lucas Drive, Hillcrest, 3650

▪ Telephone: 0861 99 0000

If you no longer want us to contact you for marketing communications, please ask us to add your details to our Do-Not-Contact list. You can do this by emailing us on dataprivacy2@theunlimited.co.za or calling us at Customer Care on 0861 990 000.

The Unlimited is a member of DMASA and is subject to the DMASA Direct Marketing POPIA Code of Conduct.

If you believe that we have breached this Code of Conduct, you must first lodge a complaint to us to try and resolve the matter before you can follow the Escalation Process (See 5.3 below).

When submitting your complaint, please use this POPIA Complaint Form. If you choose not to use the prescribed form, we will still respond to your complaint.

Upon receipt of the complaint, should we require any additional information, we will request such information within 14 (fourteen) business days. If you fail to respond to a request for more information within 14 (fourteen) days of the request being sent, we will respond to your complaint to the extent reasonably practicable with the limited information we have.

We will always provide you with a response within:

• 30 (thirty) business days of receipt of the Complaint, where we have not asked for more information; or

• 42 (forty-two) business days of receipt of the Complaint, if we have asked for more information.

5. Escalation Processes

If you’re not satisfied with the outcome of your Complaint you can escalate it to the Head of Legal, Risk and Compliance, either in writing or telephonically on:

Email: RiskCompliance2@theunlimited.co.za or

Call: 086 199 0000 or 031 716 9600

5.1 ESCALATION PROCESS FOR NON- INSURANCE PRODUCTS

If you’re still not satisfied with the outcome and your product is a non-insurance product, you may contact the National Consumer Commission:

National Consumer Commission

• Postal Address: 1 Dr Letegan Drive, Groenkloof, Pretoria, 0027

• Telephone: 012 428 7000

• Email: complaints@thencc.org.za

5.2 ESCALATION PROCESS FOR INSURANCE PRODUCTS

If you are still not satisfied with the outcome of your Complaint and your product is an insurance product, you can escalate your Complaint to the relevant Insurer of your policy which is either:

Insurance benefits underwritten by Santam Structured Life Limited

• Email: SSL.complaints@Santam.co.za

• Tel: 011 784 9858

Insurance benefits underwritten by Centriq Insurance Company Limited or Centriq Life Insurance Company Limited

• Email: complaints@centriq.co.za

• Tel: 011 268 6490

Insurance benefits underwritten by GuardRisk Insurance Company Limited

• Email: complaints@guardrisk.co.za

• Tel: 011 669 1000

Insurance benefits underwritten by Dotsure Limited

• Email: resolutions@dotsure.co.za

• Tel: 0861 001 083

We encourage you to approach The Unlimited before escalating a Complaint to the Insurer/s or relevant Ombud so that we can attempt to resolve it in the quickest possible time.

The decision in respect of an escalated Complaint must be made within a reasonable time and the decision, together with the reasons, must be communicated to you within 2 (two) business days of it having been made.

The details of the relevant Ombud offices as well as the relevant insurers Complaints department must also be provided to you when you are informed of the outcome of your escalated Complaint.

Should you still not be satisfied with the outcome of your Complaint, you may have the outcome reviewed by an independent party, within 6 (six) weeks from date of complaining to us. The details of the various Ombuds are provided below:

The FAIS Ombud

Share call: 0860 663 247

Telephone: 012 762 5000 / 012 470 9080

Fax: 012 348 3447

Email: info@faisombud.co.za

Webpage: www.faisombud.co.za

Postal address: P.O Box 74571, Lynnwood Ridge, 0040

Physical address: Menlyn Central Office Building, 125 Dallas Avenue, Waterkloof Glen, Pretoria 0010

National Financial Ombud Scheme South Africa NPC

Share call: 0860-800-900

Email: info@nfosa.co.za

Webpage: www.nfosa.co.za

5.3 ESCALATION PROCESS FOR COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE HANDLING OF PERSONAL INFORMATION AND DIRECT MARKETING

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your Complaint and it concerns the handling of your personal information, you can escalate your Complaint to the:

Direct Marketing Association of South Africa (DMASA)

POPIA Complaints: complaints@dmasa.org

Tel: 0861 362 362

Postal and Physical Address: Fernridge Office Park, Block 4 Ground Floor, 5 Hunter Street, Ferndale, Johannesburg, 2193

Please note the following when escalating your complaint to DMASA:

• You must submit your complaint to DMASA within 30 (thirty) business days of receiving The Unlimited’s decision in response to your complaint;

• You must submit your complaint to DMASA by email, by post or in-person using the above contact information.

• Your submission must include the following information and documents:

• the original complaint to The Unlimited;

• the date of the complaint to The Unlimited;

• any additional information you provided to The Unlimited which you believe is relevant to your complaint;

• the decision made by The Unlimited and the date of this decision; and

• the reasons why you disagree with the decision made by The Unlimited.

• On your request, we will provide you with any reasonable assistance to ensure that your complaint reaches DMASA.

• For more information about DMASA’s complaints resolution process, please refer to the Code of Conduct at www.dmasa.org.

Should you require further information about your data protection rights, including your right to complain, you may also contact:

Information Regulator (South Africa)

POPIA Complaints: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za

PAIA Complaints: PAIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za

Tel: 010 023 5200

Postal Address: P.O Box 31533, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2017

Physical Address: D House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001