Big Brother Africa (Amplified) winner Wendall Parson’s lawyer Harrison Nkomo yesterday accused Alliance Insurance of unprofessional conduct, saying the firm defrauded its clients of their money by refusing to pay insurance claims.
PHILLIP CHIDAVAENZI
During cross–examination of Alliance manager Siphathisile Sibanda, in a case in which Wendall and his brother William are accused of defrauding the firm of $20 000, Nkomo said the company sought to rip Wendall off.
The case is being heard before Harare magistrate Elisha Makomo.
Nkomo said the insurance firm refused to meet its obligations and deliberately caused his clients’ arrest.
“I put it to you that Alliance Insurance is extremely unprofessional. You are extremely fraudulent; causing the arrest of people claiming what is due to them. You refused to pay the accused who was genuinely insured and caused his arrest to avoid your obligations,” he said. But Sibanda insisted that her company was professional and it stood to accrue no benefit from Wendall’s arrest.
“Alliance is a very reputable company and has nothing to benefit from Wendall’s arrest. We agreed to the terms and conditions. If a client fails to meet the terms we have no reason to pay,” she said. She said Wendall did not submit a claim form to her company, but a police report which indicated March 28, 2013 as the date of the accident instead of March 16.
When Nkomo suggested that there was an error on the date made by the police, Sibanda said Wendall should have noticed that the date was erroneous and not “follow the mistake of the police” since he was aware of the actual date. She said although it was natural that dates could be mistaken, she was convinced that Wendall was aware of what he was doing.
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Sibanda, however, said Wendall’s policy was automatically cancelled after his arrest because that was in line with the terms and conditions of the policy. The trial continues tomorrow.
