However, he regrets it, terming it as a dishonest fraudulent deal that led him to lose over Ksh90,000 of his hard-earned money without any benefits.
“The staff who introduced me told me that a customer can terminate the policy after three years are over and claim a refund,” says Mr Mutua.
Upon asking for policy documents that contain terms and conditions, Mutua was told that they would be provided later when they were ready, despite being a pre-requisite for any transaction.
Without knowing the finer details of the policy, he decided to give it a shot, with the assurance of officers from Sanlam.
“I got it finally after some months. When I went through the policy document, I realised that I was misled by the officer who sold me the policy. When I decided to do a follow up to the main office in Meru, I got a similar explanation that I could get a refund of my cash but I was informed a certain percentage would be deducted from my investment,” he says.
This was the beginning of trouble for him at Sanlam. He wanted to know what percentage would be deducted from the amount, but the management refused to share the information, just like before, “telling me that if that time comes its only then that they can tell”.
“I saved until my savings reached around Ksh90,000. Unfortunately I lost my job and also my small business collapsed and I was left on safe hands of God. I decided to go to the main Sanlam offices in Meru to check if I could secure a refund,” explains Mutua.
Read: Sanlam Closes Five Branches As Staff Abscond Duties Due To Poor Working Conditions
Things went south as he was informed that he couldn’t get any refund because his payments were not consistence.
He was however granted a refund under one condition, to pay up the missing deposits with a penalty of Ksh90,000 and then wait for a refund which was to attract a deduction of 60 per cent.
“This sounded crazy to me and for the first time I realised I was duped to invest in a scheme that had hidden information from the word go. I tried all efforts to see if I could even secure half of my investment after the 3 years period in vain and I ended up losing the cool Ksh90,000,” laments Mutua.
Mutua is now seeking justice and refunds from Sanlam, as he feels that he was duped to purchase a service without provision of relevant information that could have informed his choice.
“If I could have been given the correct information about the policy document I could make an informed decision on whether to invest or otherwise. I feel that Sanlam stole from me by denying me truthful information immediately I started paying for my policy. I am aware what happened to me might have happened to many innocent clients,” he says.
Do you have a story you want told? Do you know of a sensitive story you would like us to get our hands on? Email your news TIPS to Editor@kahawatungu.com Also WhatsApp 0708677607 with your news tips
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
