Insurer Loses Customary Square Off After Rejecting Woman’s Claim for Not Mourning on Mattress
- An insurance company reversed its decision not to pay out a claim to a woman whose partner had died
- The firm rejected the claim due to her not sitting on the mattress to mourn as is requisite in African culture
- The National Financial Ombud Scheme South Africa intervened and overturned the insurer's ruling
Source: Getty Images
JOHANNESBURG — A woman has been awarded a funeral policy payout after the National Financial Ombud Scheme South Africa (NFOSA) NPC ruled in her favour in a customary marriage standoff with the insurer.
The Ombudsman intervened after the insurance company rejected her claim, as its investigations claimed she had not satisfied customary marriage prescripts following the man's death.
Customary square-off over mattress
The insurer had retorted that her claim was invalid because, according to the policy, she did not sit on the mattress to mourn, among other criteria.
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However, the NFOSA challenged the decision, eventually ruling in her favour. The Ombudsman ordered that the claim be paid based on equity or fair treatment, arguing:
- Whether a woman's married status should be disregarded because she did take to the mattress to mourn her partner's death and
- What were the customary requirements for recognition of a marriage?
The policy's terms and conditions defined marriage as an arrangement under the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, Marriage Act, the Civil Union Act or the tenets of a religion.
Additionally, it recognised an arrangement where two people lived together as if married if they had been doing so for at least six months.
However, they must demonstrate a committment to undertake marital rites to make the arrangement formal under the law.
The woman, backed by the deceased's family, said she and her late partner had lived together for many years while they shared two children.
She expressed that despite later living apart, he regularly deposited money into her bank account until his death and had paid a portion of lobola.
Ultimately, following an attempt to challenge the Ombudsman's provisional ruling that the customary marriage was not registered in terms of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act or that the woman did not sit on the mattress, did not invalidate it.
The adjudicators also found that all contractual definitions of "marriage" requirements were met at the sales stage.
The Ombudsman maintained:
"Relatives from both sides [received] the deceased and the [woman] as spouses. She and the deceased considered each other husband and wife, and there was no evidence submitted suggesting he had another partner apart from her. It is common for spouses to live apart owing to socioeconomic reasons while they remain spousally involved."
The Ombudsman ruled that the insurer should pay the claim based on equity due to the unique nature of the case.
In the end, the insurer accepted the ruling and processed the payout.
Nurse denies insurance murder plot
In related news, Briefly News reported that a woman saw her day in court for the murder of her domestic worker for a R6 million insurance payout.
Sithembile Xulu and her gardener, Simon Mogale, appeared side by side in the Lenasia Magistrate's Court on 3 July 2024, facing multiple charges for the plot.
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Source: Briefly News
