Insurance firm told to reimburse claim of ₹23.98 lakh to UT man

The firm, Bharti Axa General Insurance Company, has also been directed to pay ₹2 lakh as compensation for mental harassment and ₹33,000 as litigation expenses to the complainant Bhagwant Singh Chadha, a resident of Chandigarh

The state consumer disputes redressal commission has directed an insurance company to reimburse a claim of ₹23.98 lakh to a Chandigarh man whose Mercedes car was mangled in an accident in 2018.

The state consumer disputes redressal commission has directed an insurance firm to reimburse a claim of ₹23.98 lakh to a Chandigarh man whose Mercedes car was mangled in an accident in 2018. (i Stock Photo)

The firm, Bharti Axa General Insurance Company, has also been directed to pay ₹2 lakh as compensation for mental harassment and ₹33,000 as litigation expenses to the complainant Bhagwant Singh Chadha, a resident of Chandigarh.

As per the judgement, Chadha had purchased his Mercedes car from Coimbatore on November 18, 2016, for ₹37.29 lakh. The car was insured with the firm with a policy effective from January 17, 2017. The vehicle was temporarily registered in Coimbatore and later in Chandigarh. It was regularly serviced and the insurance policy on it was renewed twice.

The complainant said that on December 27, 2018, his car was damagaed after it hit the back of a truck and a boulder lying on the side of the road. A DDR report was registered and he lodged a complaint with the insurance company. But, to his shock, the company wrote back that his vehicle was declared a total loss on June 14, 2016, before he had purchased it. He tried appealing again, but was turned down in 2019.

The company had appointed a surveyor who determined that the loss was for ₹43.56 lakh. The firm in their reply to the commission alleged that the complainant had fabricated the accident as he failed to mention the registration number of the truck in his complaint. They also claimed that the vehicle was purchased from a salvage buyer in south India and the fact that it was already at a total loss was not brought to their notice while getting the policy.

The commission, however, observed that even at the time of first insurance of the vehicle, the firm did not raise the issue that it was already a total loss vehicle and ruled that the complainant was entitled to compensation.

The compensation to be paid was calculated as 75% of the insured declared value, along with the additional ₹2.33 lakh compensation to be paid for harassment and litigation.