After 7-year fight, Audi owner gets Rs 17L from Bharti Axa General Insurance Company Ltd

HYDERABAD: More than seven years after an Audi Q7 owner suffered a huge loss and spent Rs 20 lakh on repairs of the vehicle, the Telangana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (TSCDRC) directed the insurance company to pay Rs 17.54 lakh along with 7% interest.

The car was damaged in the 2013 floods. The insurance company had offered only Rs 53,000 payout. Finding fault with Bharti Axa General Insurance Company Ltd for refusing to help car owner Ch Sudhakar Raju despite collecting a premium of Rs 1.12 lakh, the bench said in its order said that the insurance company was wrong in its conclusions. Raju, a resident of Banjara Hills, got the Audi repaired after its engine was damaged in the floods.

The bench of Justice MSK Jaiswal as president and Meena Ramanathan as member said: “Merely because the car got stuck in rain or drain water on the main road, we cannot expect the person sitting at the steering wheel not to make any attempt to start the car. The natural human instinct is to make an attempt to restart the car.”

Stating that each servicing of a luxury car costs at least Rs 50,000, it said: “Getting repairs done to such vehicles is much more expensive. It is wrong on the part of the insurance company to offer just Rs 53,000 to the petitioner towards repairs.” The bench also slapped costs of Rs 10,000 on the insurance firm and gave it four weeks to pay Rs 17.54 lakh plus the interest amount.

Raju bought Audi Q7 3.0TDI model in December 2012 for Rs 60 lakh and took an insurance policy. But within 10 months, the car was stuck in a traffic jam caused by a heavy downpour on September 15, 2013, at Jubilee Hills. Within minutes, the area was heavily inundated and vehicular traffic was stranded up to KBR Park area leaving scores of owners and their vehicles marooned. Flood water gushed into the car engine. The vehicle could not be started and was later shifted to Audi workshop.

The insurance firm representative assessed the car and said it was due to hydrostatic loss that the car could not move. The company contended that this particular issue was not covered by the policy and hence refused to compensate the loss. It also argued before the commission that if the vehicle was driven or an attempt was made to drive without effecting the required repairs, then the burden would lie on the car owner.

“We will not pay insurance in such a situation. Moreover, a surveyor appointed by the company gave a report saying that the engine cannot be damaged so easily. Based on this, we have concluded that the engine was damaged on account of the faulty handling of the situation by the owner. We are not liable to pay any insurance,” it argued.

The company further argued, “After the vehicle got stuck in flood waters, the owner should not have tried to start it. Because the owner tried to start it, the engine condition had worsened and the car got heavily damaged. Hence, the liability would lie on the owner and not on us.” It said: “At best, we would pay Rs 53,000 towards repairs.”