Who are Sanlam Insurance?
The company was created in 1918 in South Africa, and has since expanded from “just” an insurance company to a large financial service group which owns several companies and numerous departments – employing over 6000 people in South Africa.
Sanlam’s current CEO (since 2003) is Johan van Zyl and their financial director is Kobus Moller. According to a few recent reviews, under the direction of Mr. van Zyl, Sanlam has been revitalized over the past decade and outperformed a number of other large financial service providers in South Africa. During this time, Sanlam acquired African Life (in 2006), Channel Life and funeral policies operator Safrican – purchases that were all funded by the R10 billion received from the sale of its shares in Absa.
As a large company, Sanlam tries to give back to society and have their hand in a variety of foundations and projects aimed at social development, including education, economic empowerment and the battle against AIDS.
Where is Sanlam located?
Sanlam’s head office is located at 2 Strand Road, Bellville, South Africa. Their postal address is Sanlam Head Office, PO Box 1, Sanlamhof, 7532.
What services does Sanlam offer?
As a large financial services company, Sanlam offers the gamut of services, including:
- Individual, group and short-term insurance (including Car Insurance and Home Insurance)
- Trusts
- Home and personal loans
- Savings and linked products
- Investment
- Asset management
- Capital market activities
While this list is clearly extensive, seeing how we are called Carinfo, and that’s why you are probably here, we’d like to focus on Sanlam’s car insurance policies:
Sanlam doesn’t offer car insurance itself, but rather does so through Santam and MiWay – which are both companies that provide short-term insurance options.
- Santam is a general insurance company based in South Africa that has been in existence since 1918, when Sanlam was founded. According to their website, their success is based on their passion for their clients with their focus on delivering value products.
- MiWay is a newer company that provides direct insurance. According to their website, they strive to provide quality service delivery, convenience (while maintaining quality) and staying abreast of current news in the world of insurance.
Both Santam and MiWay offer the standard 3 choices for car insurance: comprehensive, third part, theft and fire and third party only coverage. For more in-depth information about the services offered by Santam and Miway, read our reviews about them under the “Insurance Companies” tab on the main menu or just click on their names here above. Looking for reviews about other insurance companies? See our List of Insurance Companies in South Africa which includes reviews about almost all the companies out there.
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How user-friendly is Sanlam’s website?
Based on our experience searching the Sanlam website, we found it to be quite user-friendly and easy to navigate. Their information is clearly laid out and easy to find all without being confusing. Also, and despite Sanlam being a large company that offers many services, it is not difficult to find the section on car insurance even though the actual in-depth information can’t be found on their website because they themselves do not provide the insurance. Nevertheless, they do provide links to the two daughter companies that provide the service.
Sanlam Customer Reviews and Sanlam on Hello Peter?
In reviewing hello peter, Sanlam received about 300 feedback reports over the past 12 months. Of those 300, 18% were compliments whilst a staggering 82% were complaints; that is a ratio of almost 4½:1 complaints versus compliments. In looking at the nature of the complaints, billing/accounts and feedback/response each received over 20% of the complaints. On the bright side, both the complaints and compliments consistently received a response from the company, and sometimes even received an updated response. It is also important to note that on several occasions, the complaint was changed to a compliment following the supplier’s response. Hence, it seems that Sanlam is eager to solve its clients’ issues and did what it needed to resolve the complaints in a satisfactory manner in those situations. Now if they could only get those employees who are in charge of responding on Hello Peter to teach their other departments how to prevent the complaints in the first place or at least lower the ratio (by the way, what do you think should be a decent complaint ratio for insurance companies? We all know that not everyone can be happy, so I think 2 complaints for every compliment sounds decent. Share your thoughts in the comments section at the end of this post).
Summary
Sanlam is a large financial services group that has been around for a long time and it is clear that they have undergone a variety of changes and growth, especially in the last 10 years. There are advantages and disadvantages to being insured through such a large company: For example, it is more likely that a larger company has a wider range of services, as well as lower premiums due to its financial backing. However, due to their size, they may not focus on each individual client because they have so many. Remember Sanlam does not actually provide the insurance; rather they oversee the companies that do. It is, therefore, important for you to also read the reviews about Santam and MiWay before deciding on the best car insurance provider for you.
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