Eleven family members are suing assurance company Avbob for over R4m alleging that their family member was wrongly cremated a day before her funeral.

Janet Allison Minnie, Peter Lowen Frederick, Nicole, Simone and Joelle Janet van Niekerk; Trevor Hilton and Bertram Edward William; Charmaine Glynis and Warren Charles Tomlinson, Gail Marlene Powell and Melanie Marcia Ashby are each suing for R395 000 for emotional shock and psychological damage suffered.

It is alleged Avbob mistakenly cremated Cecilia Brock’s body on July 9, 2015.

Her body was cremated at Port Shepstone crematorium after it became mixed up with the body of a ‘Mr Wright’.

The matter came before the Pietermaritzburg Regional Civil Court yesterday, where Avbob is defending the matter.

Court papers

According to court papers, Brock died at Grey’s Hospital and her body was transported to Avbob mortuary in Pietermaritz Street.

The family made arrangements with Avbob that the funeral service would be held on July 10 and that Avbob was going to transport Brock’s body to the funeral service at 09:00 for viewing by family and friends.

Prior to the funeral, relatives viewed her body at Avbob’s offices, but a day before the funeral they were informed that due to an error by Avbob employees, Brock was cremated in Port Shepstone.

The papers add that as a result of this incident the family suffered emotional shock and psychological damage as a result of the trauma suffered due to the breach of the agreement entered into with the defendant.

The family members are now suing for R395 000 each, with interest of 10% per annum from the date of the summons to the date of the final payment. They are also ordering Avbob to do all things necessary to establish whether the remains provided to the family are indeed Brock’s as well as wanting Avbob to cover the cost of the suit.

Witness is ‘shocked’

The first witness to take the stand, pastor Peter van Niekerk who is the sixth plaintiff, told the court that he was ‘absolutely shocked’ when he found out that his mother-in-law had been cremated a day before her funeral.

He said he was informed by her daughter when he got home a day before the funeral that there was an urgent call from Avbob that he needed to return.

“I returned the call and I spoke to an employee who was helping us throughout with the funeral arrangements. There were things that we needed to correct on the hymn sheets and we did.

“He then told me that there was another problem. My mother-in-law’s body had been taken to Port Shepstone. I told him that it is not a problem, and they can bring it back. He said it was not easy because it had been cremated. I was so shocked and I could not proceed with the conversation. I asked my wife to speak to him. I don’t recall their conversation because I was so shocked.”

He said after a few hours, he summoned all family members and broke the news to them before going to Avbob’s offices where he met with an employee.

He said during the discussion they were informed that it was an error caused by the swapping of ‘Mr Wright’s’ body with that of Brock’s.

“It was proposed to us that we can have a morgue funeral where Avbob was going to bring an empty coffin, with flowers and a picture of the deceased, but the family never agreed after discussing it. We asked him to write a letter acknowledging their mistake and he did.”

He said the funeral service that was already planned was conducted as a memorial service.

The matter is set to continue today.