Absa sells legal cover under the name Absa Law For You. It is worth knowing at the outset that this is not the same thing as Law for All, which is a separate legal insurance company with its own contact details, so a policy schedule naming one will not be serviced by the other.
Official contact channels
- New claims, existing matters and client care: 0860 227 257
- Absa general enquiries: 0860 008 600 or [email protected]
- Complaint Resolution Suite: 0800 41 41 41 or [email protected], weekdays 08:00 to 16:30
Check the digits carefully. Absa publishes 0860 227 253 for Absa Life Cover and Home Loan Protector insurance, and 0860 227 257 for legal cover. The two differ only in the final digit and sit in the same product family, which makes this one of the easier Absa numbers to misdial.
What this organisation provides
The cover is aimed at getting legal help and paying legal costs when a legal problem arises. Absa describes the single number above as the route for opening a new claim, for following up on a matter already running, and for general client care, so there is no separate claims and service split to navigate.
The underwriter is Absa Insurance Company Limited, an insurer licensed to conduct non-life insurance business and an authorised financial services provider under FSP number 8030, registration number 2000/025898/06. That the cover is non-life rather than long term insurance matters, because it determines which rules the claim is assessed under and which route a dispute takes.
Address and operating information
Legal cover is administered centrally rather than through a branch. The Absa head office is Absa Towers West, 15 Troye Street, Johannesburg, 2000. Note that the complaint line runs weekdays 08:00 to 16:30 only, which is shorter than the claims line, so an urgent legal matter arising over a weekend should be opened as a claim rather than logged as a complaint.
Support and escalation routes
Open or follow up a matter on 0860 227 257, then put an unresolved problem to the Complaint Resolution Suite in writing. Beyond Absa, a dispute about a declined or underpaid non-life insurance claim goes to the National Financial Ombud Scheme South Africa on 0860 800 900, which took over the work of the former Short-term Insurance Ombudsman. A complaint about the advice given when the policy was sold goes to the FAIS Ombud on 012 762 5000, and the FSCA regulates market conduct and the FSP licence.
One route falls outside all of those. If your complaint is about the conduct of the attorney who acted on your matter rather than about the insurer that paid for them, that is a Legal Practice Council matter, and the Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund covers loss of money entrusted to an attorney. Neither ombud can discipline a lawyer.
Sources
- Absa legal insurance page: absa.co.za/personal/insure/my-legal-needs/explore/
- Absa contact directory: absa.co.za/talk-to-us
- National Financial Ombud Scheme South Africa: nfosa.co.za
- Legal Practice Council: lpc.org.za
Related: Absa Legal Department Contact Details · Absa Loan Department Contact Details · Absa Mortgage Contact Details