Nellore: Forum directs insurance firm to pay Rs 1.84 lakh to car owner
Nellore: The consumer forum in Nellore came to the rescue of a car owner when a vehicle insurance company rejected his claim for Rs 2.45 lakh towards repair costs for the vehicle involved in an accident in Chennai on April 27, 2017.
The insurance firm, Future General Insurance Company Ltd, justified its stand to disallow the claim under the plea that the vehicle owner was driving the vehicle without a valid licence. The company also took objection to submitting the claim 22 days after the accident under the plea that it was in violation to the terms and conditions.
Referring to the intimation submitted by the owner of the insured car, Katamreddy Ravindra Reddy of Nellore, the insurance firm told the consumer forum that his driving licence had expired on May 31, 2016 much prior to the accident on April 28, 2017. The licence was renewed from June 3, 2017 to June 2, 2022 which is after the date of the accident.
The firm maintained that driving the car without a valid driving licence was a breach of policy conditions. Reacting to the stance of the insurer that his son Prajith Reddy was driving the car at the time of the accident, the firm said Ravindra Reddy had not filed the driving licence of his son or any medical evidence to show that his son received even minor injuries.
The complainant had also not filed any undertaking to show that he had not claimed third party damages against the other car which rammed into the vehicle of Ravindra Reddy.
The insurance company alleged that the complainant had somehow managed excess bill from Chennai based Abra Motors Private Limited, where the damaged car was repaired, for wrongful gain from them.
The firm further claimed that the independent surveyor they deputed had estimated the net loss caused to the insured vehicle was only Rs 1,19,820 as against 2.45 lakhs claimed by Ravindra Reddy.
Stressing that Ravindra Reddy had committed breach of conditions of policy, the firm sought for the dismissal of the complaint with costs.
However, the forum backed the claim pointing to the failure of the insurance firm to provide evidence to prove that Ravindra Reddy was not driving the car at the time of the accident.
The forum also made it clear that they could not accept the report of the surveyor, who estimated the cost of repairs at Rs 1,19,820, while pointing to Rs 2,45,146 paid by Ravindra Reddy to Abra Motors through his bank account.
Delivering his verdict in the case recently, president of the consumer forum Sk. Mohd. Ismail said that the claim of the complainant had to be accepted as per the instructions issued by the IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority).
He directed the insurance company to pay Rs 1.84 lakh, which was 75 per cent of the claim, with 12 per cent interest from April 16, 2018 till the date of payment. Advocate P. Uma Maheswar had argued on behalf of Ravindra Reddy and S. Nageswar Rao represented the Future General Insurance Co.
