Hotel Sahara Star secures ₹4.13 cr insurance payout after 15-year legal battle
Hotel Sahara Star, owned by Sahara Hospitality Ltd, is set to receive ₹4.13 crore from its insurer after the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission ruled in its favor. The commission rejected the insurer's repudiation of the claim and directed them to pay ₹1.76 crore with interest. The claim was filed after strong winds damaged the hotel in 2008.
HT Correspondent
htmumbai@hindustantimes.com
MUMBAI: Hotel Sahara Star, owned by Sahara Hospitality Ltd, is set to receive ₹4.13 crore from its insurer, as ruled by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC). The commission rejected the repudiation of the insurance claim, directing the insurer to pay ₹1.76 crore with a 9% per annum interest, dating back to the incident on June 11, 2008.
According to the company, in the afternoon of June 11, 2008, strong winds blew off a tarpaulin shed and damaged the dome of the hotel located near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA). Sahara Hospitality filed a claim of ₹4.22 crores with National Insurance Company Ltd. However, on November 18, 2010, the insurance company repudiated the claim on the grounds that the incident was beyond the terms of the insurance contract. It stated that the contract covered the risk of a “storm” and the winds of 80 kmph did not qualify to be a storm, only the winds with speed between 88 and 102 kmph qualify for the term “storm.” Therefore, the claim was not covered under the policy.”
Sahara Hospitality presented a 2011 weather report from the India Meteorology Department (IMD), confirming a “thunderstorm” on the day of the incident. The NCDRC ruled in favor of Sahara Hospitality, emphasising that there was no material on record to indicate that the insurer ever informed the complainant that the wind speed of 80 km/hr would not constitute a storm or a particular scientific measure would be applied to measure the intensity of the wind to determine if it was a storm, thunderstorm, hurricane or some other natural calamity.
{{/usCountry}}Sahara Hospitality presented a 2011 weather report from the India Meteorology Department (IMD), confirming a “thunderstorm” on the day of the incident. The NCDRC ruled in favor of Sahara Hospitality, emphasising that there was no material on record to indicate that the insurer ever informed the complainant that the wind speed of 80 km/hr would not constitute a storm or a particular scientific measure would be applied to measure the intensity of the wind to determine if it was a storm, thunderstorm, hurricane or some other natural calamity.
{{/usCountry}}The single-member bench of NCDRC president AP Sahi stated, “In the opinion of this Commission, a storm with a wind speed of 80 km/hr. would reasonably stand included under the policy risk in the light of the other definitions that have been referred to, including the Weather Report itself.”
{{/usCountry}}The single-member bench of NCDRC president AP Sahi stated, “In the opinion of this Commission, a storm with a wind speed of 80 km/hr. would reasonably stand included under the policy risk in the light of the other definitions that have been referred to, including the Weather Report itself.”
{{/usCountry}}The bench directed the insurer to pay the ₹1.76 crore insurance claim along with interest within three months.
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