Old Mutual says policy was accidental death as widow cries foul over R1. 68 million rejected claim
A Gauteng woman is locked in a bitter conflict with Old Mutual over a policy payout following the tragic death of her husband.
Insurance company, Old Mutual, clarified that the policy held by a deceased client was an accidental death benefit, not a life insurance policy as the widow had stated.
The statement follows accusations from Annette Monica Mulder, a 60-year-old Gauteng resident, who claimed Old Mutual unjustly denied her claim after her husband, Rudolf Johan Frederick Mulder, died tragically in January 2018.
According to Mulder, her husband took a policy with Old Mutual in 2009 and at the time of his death, it was R1.68 million.
Old Mutual explained that the accidental death benefit policy inherently excludes suicide, as it is not considered accidental death.
However, Mulder maintains that her husband's death was accidental, asserting that the firearm involved was defective.
"I have a report from a forensic gun specialist that says the gun had a faulty safety clip. The cartridge of the bullet was stuck in the gun on the police photos, and when we received the gun back from the SAPS, we found it was not working. I took it to a gunsmith the same day they found it faulty and a piece of metal behind the safety," she said.
Mulder said that even if her husband's death was suicide, Old Mutual failed to produce concrete evidence to support the allegations.
"The medical examiner said she couldn't tell if it was an accident or suicide. Also, nowhere does the police report say suicide, they say suspicion of suicide. Old Mutual didn't prove without reasonable doubt that my husband died of suicide," she said.
Moreover, she said the words on the policy can be easily misconstrued due to the grammar.
"In the Afrikaans version of the policy, the title may appear as 'Accidental Disability and/or Death.' However, due to the absence of appropriate punctuation, the term 'Accidental' cannot be conclusively interpreted as modifying or applying to 'death.' On this basis, 'death' stands as a distinct and separately covered event under the policy, irrespective of whether it was accidental or not."
According to Mulder, the life insurance contract specified just three exclusions: death while committing a crime, death in war, or death during a strike.
"Those were the three exclusions that were listed in the contract. If they decided to add suicide, it's something they added without notifying us. We were certainly not made aware of this,'' she said.
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