National Insurance Company Ltd told to pay up Rs 1.35 lakh for junking car claim

HYDERABAD: A district consumer forum directed an insurance firm to pay Rs 1.35 lakh to a consumer for failing to give cashless approval and delay in approving the claim to get his vehicle repaired. The car was damaged during heavy rains.

G Venkatesh, the complainant, submitted that due to heavy rain on May 5, 2016, the cellar of his building remained inaccessible and his car, which was parked there, suffered extensive damage. He said that as the vehicle was covered under a policy issued by the National Insurance Company Ltd, he filed a complaint with them and took his car for repair to an authorised workshop.

He added that the workshop sent an estimate to the insurance firm after which a surveyor was appointed by the firm to submit an assessment. However, he alleged that they forced him to sign on a few blank papers to initiate the claim process and added that he deposited Rs 80,000 to avoid any delay in repair work. He claimed that although the vehicle was repaired in August, it was not delivered as the insurance firm did not give cashless approval.

Stating that the denial of settling the claim caused him severe inconvenience for more than six months, he filed this complaint seeking compensation. The representatives of the insurance firm, in their written version, submitted that they settled the claim based on the surveyor’s report. Claiming that they acted in accordance with policy terms and conditions, they said that the claim of the complainant is not tenable and requested the forum to dismiss the case.

The managing director of the workshop, who was also made a party in the case, confirmed that he received the balance amount from the complainant. He said that at every stage of the repair, he kept the complainant in the loop and even furnished the proforma invoice to the complainant and the insurance firm. During the trial, the bench noticed that the contention of the opposite parties, stating that the complainant executed a discharge voucher in full and final settlement of claim is not supported by any cogent evidence. They noticed that although the total repair cost was Rs 3.4 lakh, only Rs 1.91 lakh was approved. They further noticed that while claim was made in May, surveyor report was filed in August.

“Arbitrarily denying the cost of repairs to a great extent does not corroborate with their policy conditions,” said the bench, adding that delay in approving the claim, especially after repairs are carried out, amounts to deficiency in service and the firm is bound to pay the cost of repairs incurred.

Source: The Times of India