The family of a disabled young woman are up in arms after her funeral policy holder refused to pay up, forcing them to borrow money for her burial.
Jamie Petersen, 22, from Ottery, was born mentally and physically disabled, and in January 2023, her family reached out to the Daily Voice to appeal for assistance towards her 21st birthday party and soon after donations started pouring in from generous readers.
Sadly Jamie passed on 20 July 2024 of natural causes at her home.
Sister Samantha Petersen says they took out a funeral policy from Emerald Life for Jamie in September 2022 following a door-to-door campaign by the company, and paid R115 every month via debit order, for a R12 500 payout.
Samantha explains: “My mom and I went to their office on 23 July to submit the documents and claim.
“The woman who helped us told us that the money will be paid in 48 hours.
“Two days later I never received a notification to say the money was paid in and we phoned them to enquire.
“The manager said that Jamie was not bedridden, so how would Jamie know my mom put her in a funeral policy if she did not sign.
“We said that Jamie could not even hold a pen [to sign], then she responded by saying that Jamie’s hands are not off.
“We later received a message to say the claim was declined. but they cannot give us a reason. They said they are conducting an investigation.
“I don’t understand why because they are making it seem like we were busy with fraud.”
Mom Marilyn Petersen and Samantha were Jamie’s primary caregivers and say her disability grant was their only source of income.
When the claim was denied, they had to borrow R5000 for her funeral. She was laid to rest on 3 August.
Samantha adds: “My dad placed her in a burial [scheme].
“We walked to Emerald’s office in Bellville and back to Ottery.
“We do not even have money for taxi fare and these people who we borrowed money from want their money back.
“We are broken because it’s a lot all at once while we are still grieving.”
When the Daily Voice reached out to Emerald Life Proprietary Limited, spokesperson Verna Lakey did not respond to any questions asked and instead said: “We will be in direct communication with the client, Ms Samantha Petersen, to further assist with her enquiry.”
marsha.dean@inl.co.za