No insurance claim if vehicle is run without license: HC

The Delhi High Court has said the insurance company would not be liable to pay damages to victims if the insured vehicle involved in a road accident is driven by a person without driving licence.

The Delhi High Court has said the insurance company would not be liable to pay damages to victims if the insured vehicle involved in a road accident is driven by a person without driving licence.

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The court said that in such cases the owner would pay compensation to the road accident victim from his own pocket.

"Where it is established beyond doubt that the driver of the offending vehicle had no licence at the time of the accident, it will be responsibility of the owner to pay the damages and not the responsibility of the insurance company," Justice SN Dhingra said.

The court dismissed the plea of a vehicle owner who had contended that the damages should be paid by the insurance company and not by him on the ground that his son, who did not have a licence, had taken out the scooter on road without his permission.

"It was one of the prime conditions of the insurance policy that the insured vehicle shall be driven by a person having a valid driving licence and in case it was not driven by a person having a valid licence, it would amount to breach of terms and conditions of the insurance policy and the insurer will not be liable to pay the compensation," the court said.

"The plea taken by the father that scooter was taken out without his permission is not tenable. The manner in which the scooter was being driven on a main road of Delhi shows that the son was driving his scooter with his knowledge and consent for sufficient long time and it was not his first trial drive on the scooter," the court said.

The court directed the father Ram Sagar to pay Rs 2.62 lakh to family members of a person who died in the road accident last year.