Fwd: Insurer to pay despite ‘delay’

JEEP THEFT CLAIM

Mumbai: A district consumer forum has reprimanded Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Ltd in a case where the company repudiated the claim of a Bhiwandi resident whose jeep was stolen.

The forum recently ordered the company to pay the insurance amount of Rs 4.95 lakh with 12% interest from 2009.The forum rejected the company's explanation that there was a 'hyper technicality delay' in filing the complainant's claim, saying that the company was being unjust. The complainant, Abdul Shaikh, will also receive Rs 30,000 for mental harassment and Rs 10,000 towards the cost of the litigation. Shaikh took the insurance firm to task in 2009. He had insured his jeep with the company and the policy was valid from February 2009 to February 2010. On March 25, 2009, Shaikh parked his jeep at Vikhroli. When he returned to pick it up the next day, it was nowhere to be found. On March 27, 2009, he filed a complaint at the Vikhroli police station. Shaikh continued to look for the jeep over the next fortnight. However, when the search yielded no results, Shaikh filed his claim before the insurance company on April 13—18 days after the theft. When Shaikh filed the claim, the company made no reference to the delay and made several requests for the submission of the required papers, all of which Shaikh submitted. The police attempted to trace the jeep but were unsuccessful. In October 2009, the company repudiated the claim. Shaikh filed a complaint with the forum in June 2010. The company argued that Shaikh kept it in the dark about the theft for 18 days instead of informing it. As Shaikh delayed informing both the police and the company, the insurance firm stated that it was a violation of the policy conditions. The forum, however, held the company guilty of deficiency in service.

Regards

Akbar