After a hefty dose of compassion from insurance claims assessor, Bennie de Beer made all the difference to one woman after a traumatic loss; karma came knocking.
South Africa (30 June 2022) – Mrs Emily Mokoka, an office administrator at the Unemployment Insurance Fund, was away for the weekend when she received word that her beloved aunt was suffering a health collapse. Once an ambulance had been called to her aunt’s aid, Emily made her way there to offer the support she could; and asked the family to keep her up to speed on her aunt’s progress.
As she drove onto her property, Emily was told that her aunt had died. The shock of this news caused her a momentary lapse in control, as Emily hit her front gate and drove right into the front of her house. Needless to say, her car was badly damaged, but Emily had no recollection of the accident at all, even right after it happened, and to this day she can’t remember what happened.
For Emily, the next few days proved harrowing – over and above the funeral arrangements which needed to be made, she needed to submit her first-ever insurance claim. From what she’d heard, this was sure to be a painful ordeal with little to no guarantee of a good outcome. MiWay, her insurer, assigned assessor Bennie de Beer to her case.
“We met and Bennie could see right away that I was in shock, and looking back now, I know that he was determined to take the pressure off me. He allowed me to speak, to say everything I felt I needed to say, about my loss, about the incident I didn’t remember. Bennie was so calming,” says Emily. Months later she still can’t get that terrible day out of her mind.
Bennie says that he could tell, “almost immediately that Mrs. Mokoka was in an emotional state as she had lost an especially beloved family member. “I told her that she needed to focus on healing herself and remembering all the good times with her aunt. The main thing was that she wasn’t physically hurt. I had to reassure her that replacing or repairing a vehicle would be the easy part, learning to accept life after losing someone is much harder,” he says.
Emily later confessed that she had heard that she could expect a grilling from the claims assessor. Instead, she found a sympathetic ear, an unexpected friendship and much-needed support throughout the entire process.
“Bennie handled it so well, I would give him 10 out of 10,” she says. “I also want to send a shout-out to Bennie – I know he’s the reason my claiming process was less stressful, and to MiWay for extending compassion by sending me a beautiful bunch of flowers and Dischem voucher with a thoughtful message, at a time when I needed it most. It’s not very often that clients are made to feel like more than a number, but this one moment showed me ubuntu…that thing that makes us all so proud to be South African.
They say what goes around comes around, and that it usually takes time. But in a karmic twist, Bennie was nominated for the company’s Service Hero Award – a programme introduced by the company to encourage, celebrate and reward service that goes the extra mile. Bennie won and received the winner’s prize of R25 000. Even better, the money came at just the right time to assist in making a medical intervention for his wife possible.
Sometimes the ball does bounce right for the fullback!
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