23-09-2020
Tribunal passes ‘pay-and-recover’ order against reliance general insurance company
Insurance AlertssTribunal passes ‘pay-and-recover’ order against reliance general insurance company
A motor accident claims tribunal recently passed a pay-and-recover order, directing an insurer to pay Rs 3.64 lakh to a homemaker and later recover the amount from the owner of a motorcycle that injured her in an accident in 2015. Tribunal member NG Gimekar held the minor riding the bike guilty of rash and negligent driving and directed Reliance General Insurance to pay Rs 2.60 lakh with 8 per cent interest in compensation to the petitioner, then recover the amount from the bike’s owners without filing separate proceedings, treating its order as a decree of the City Civil Court.
Yamuna Patil, 57, had approached the tribunal back in 2015 claiming that she was visiting a relative at Wadia Hospital on December 9, 2014, when a speeding motorcyclist hit her. She was taken to KEM and later to another clinic in Dadar. She had submitted various documents related to her treatment and a complaint filed against the motorcycle driver. The owner of the bike had contended that the accident was caused by the negligence of a taxi driver who had fled the scene and that his son had been implicated in the case. He also submitted that the motorbike was insured and requested that the petition be dismissed.
However, the insurer had argued that handing over the motorbike to a minor amounted to breach of terms and conditions of the policy, producing documents to show the minor had been charge-sheeted and convicted by the Juvenile Justice Board for rash and negligent driving. “The aforesaid fact itself is sufficient to say that the rider of the motorcycle rode it rashly and negligently and caused fracture to the left femur of the petitioner,” the tribunal had observed. A doctor who issued a certificate of partial disability deposed that Patil had sustained permanent partial disability to the extent of 66 per cent in her left leg.
The tribunal awarded Rs 1.23 lakh towards Patil’s hospital bills, calculating her loss of income at an additional Rs 1.08 lakh and a loss of income of Rs 15,000 for three months of recuperation. An additional compensation of Rs 14,000 was awarded for special diet and attendant charges during her recovery.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
