Who is Standard Bank?
Standard Bank has primarily 3 branches of business, personal and business banking (of which Standard Bank Car Insurance is a part), corporate and investment banking and wealth-liberty. Standard Bank dates back 150 years in South Africa and began branching out into other countries in Africa in the 1990s. Accurate as of 2013, Standard Bank has over 1200 branches across 18 countries in Africa and employs about 52,000 people. As of March, 2013, the joint chief executives are B. Kruger and S. Tshabalala.
Where is Standard Bank located?
Standard Bank’s head office is located on the 9th floor of the Standard Bank Centre at 5 Simmonds Street, Johannesburg 2001. Their postal address is P.O. Box 7725 Johannesburg 2000.
What services does Standard Bank offer?
According to their website, Standard bank offers both banking and financial services, including transactional banking, investment, insurance, risk and wealth management. We will of course focus on their insurance services. Standard Bank offers loan insurance, travel insurance, funeral insurance, life insurance, car insurance and home insurance.
Standard Bank Car Insurance
Standard Bank Car Insurance offers a variety of coverage options or benefit options. These apply when your vehicle has been determined not worthy of being repaired or as a “total loss” (damaged beyond a certain percent). So, if your car gets damaged and is deemed not worth repairing or a “total loss,” Standard Bank will do one of the following:
- Replace your vehicle or pay you the current purchase price;
- Pay you the price you paid for the vehicle;
- Pay you the retail value of a car one year newer than yours;
- Pay you the retail value for your car based on published statistics.
Each of these coverage options have more specific requirements based on the age of the vehicle and other factors.
Standard Bank Car Insurance also offers the following benefits:
- Assistance with towing your vehicle to the nearest repair shop or pay you the storage fees;
- Assistance with delivering your car to an address in South Africa following the repairs;
- Assistance with fixing windscreen cracks/chips;
- Third party liability;
- Trauma counseling;
- Medical expenses;
- Assistance with sound equipment replacement;
- Assistance with paying for tracking device for a new car if the old one was stolen;
- Assistance with lost keys, locks, remote.
How user-friendly is the Standard Bank Car Insurance website?
Overall, Standard Bank has a clear and informative website. The website is packed with a lot of information, particularly about the company’s history in general, as well as their involvement in the community. In terms of car insurance specifically, the website is relatively sparse, but they do provide a link to their car insurance policy, which explains their options in detail. It is a bit hard to read with all of the ‘fine print’ and would be much more helpful for potential customers if they were to provide a brief summary of their car insurance options. Nevertheless, if a customer was to dig deep enough, the information was there.
Filing a car insurance claim with Standard Bank
The Standard Bank Car Insurance website has a webpage dedicated to learning about how to file claims. The page explains the process of how to download the necessary forms and fax the signed documents to the appropriate number.
What are the customer reviews for Standard Bank Car Insurance?
Over the past 12 months, Standard Bank received 8660 feedback reports through hellopeter. Based on many other insurance companies we’ve reviewed, this is a large number of feedback reports, likely making the percentages all the more reflective of the true experience of the customers. Of those, only 12% (1041) reports were compliments. 88% percent (7619) of the reports were complaints – that’s about 7 times more complaints than compliments! In looking at the nature of the reports, “billing/accounts” and “feedback/response” have the highest percentages. This indicates areas in which Standard Bank insurance needs to improve. Based on these numbers, it seems that Standard Bank needs to improve its feedback and overall customer service in regards to its car insurance.
Summary
Being one of the largest banks in South-Africa, Standard Bank is clearly a large company with a wide range of services – maybe too many services as the level of customer service shows. While the website describes a company with a long history and significant contributions to the community, the customer reviews clearly paint quite a negative experience. With an 8 to 1 complaint ratio (even if taking in to account slight discrepancies), it would be hard for us to give our “thumbs up” for Standard Bank Car Insurance.
Before renewing or getting car insurance, try the following 3 steps:
1. Read our post on how to save on car insurance;
2. Read 2-3 reviews about other insurance companies that are of interest to you OR read our research on “Are you using the best insurance company in South Africa?;
3. Get a few Free online car insurance quotes before making your final decision.
Click here to get One quote from King Price insurance which offers decreasing premiums every month, or:
Click here for up to 9 quotes from various other companies.
Main subject: Standard Bank Car Insurance
