RAF ‘keeps crash victim waiting for compensation’

A 32-YEAR-OLD woman with a chronic condition has been left homeless and helpless after the Road Accident Fund (RAF) failed to pay her compensation for 13 years.

Claudine Jacklyn Bell has difficulty breathing and has to make use of an implanted pipe to breathe, a condition called Erythromelalgia. This followed a car crash on Oxford Road, Joburg, in December 2004, when she was 19 years old.

“I was in hospital for a year, so I couldn’t claim and nobody from RAF came to me,” she said.

According to Bell, her claim has been met with many challenges. “When I went to the RAF, they were giving me a lot of stories, saying they gave me a payout summary. They say my claim is prescribed,” she said.

“Every time I go there (RAF), they give me different stories like the dates are not right… this is my last resort,” she said.

“My biggest challenge is I cannot work and my husband doesn’t earn enough.

“This accident has stopped me from having children,” added Bell.

RAF spokesperson Thandeka Ngwenya said she needed time to find the file despite The Star waiting two weeks for answers.

“Kindly note that we need a bit of time to respond as the file of this claimant needs to be retrieved by the claims handler from the filing system in order for us to fully assist with this enquiry,” said Ngwenya.

She sais she would only have a sufficient response on the processes of dealing with cases that are older than 10 years old by today.

Bell’s husband, Xavier Charles Phillips, says his wife’s condition has been hard for him and upsets him because he cannot have children or provide sufficiently for his family.

Phillips told The Star that late at night, he would have to rush her to the hospital because she would be coughing the whole night.

“It makes me angry.” @Zwane_2li2ls