WATCH | Old Mutual, a 'corpse' and a claim: What you need to know

Banking and insurance group Old Mutual has come under fire for its alleged insensitive handling of a funeral claim.

Here is what you need to know:

Viral video

On Tuesday, a viral video shocked social media users. In it, mourners delivered a family member’s “body” to an Old Mutual branch after the company allegedly refused to pay out the funeral claim.

In it, the isiZulu-speaking mourners can be seen standing beside a blue body bag in Old Mutual’s offices.

Old Mutual's apology

The company issued a statement on social media, saying the claim had been paid.

In a series of tweets, Old Mutual said the incident was isolated and regrettable, adding that the claim needed further assessments.

It said it strived to pay claims within eight hours, once all requirements were met.

Legal action against Old Mutual

According to EWN, the National Funeral Practitioners Association of SA (Nafupa SA) said it would take legal action against the company.

“When the body was taken from the mortuary to Old Mutual, it was all out of anger. So, all the rituals that were supposed to be conducted to move the body from one place to another were not done. The soul of that man is still left at Old Mutual, so they will have to cover the costs of performing these rituals,” said Nafupa SA's Muzi Hlengwa.

In a Facebook post, the organisation said Old Mutual needed to change the way it treated “African customers”. 

“This is what black families have to resort to in order to get their claims paid by Old Mutual. This [is] not happening for the first time.

“So one has to [think], is this what we all need to do to have insurance companies pay our claims as promised. Must we all bring dead bodies to their offices [to get] paid?”