15 yrs after fire, Insurance firm asked to compensate

About 15 years after a fire engulfed its storehouse, a Goregaon-based trading firm will get Rs 18.28 lakh towards insurance cover and interest.

About 15 years after a fire engulfed its storehouse, a Goregaon-based trading firm will get Rs 18.28 lakh towards insurance cover and interest.

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The Maharashtra Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission recently directed Oriental Insurance Company to pay Rajaram V Tarphe and Company Rs 7.49 lakh along with interest from September 2000, when the insurance company repudiated the firm’s claim.

The firm had purchased an insurance policy from Oriental Insurance Company for material and finished goods stored in its multi-storied storehouse at Goregaon. On January 3, 1997 the building was engulfed in fire, and most of the stock was destroyed.

The insurance company appointed a surveyor, who assessed the loss at Rs7.49 lakh. The firm, however, claimed it lost goods worth Rs14.6 lakh. It approached the consumer commission in 2001 after the insurance company repudiated the claim stating that the ground floor, where stock had been burnt, was not covered by the policy.

The Commission, however, found that the insurance company’s surveyor assessed the loss caused by fire at Rs 7.49 lakh, and that the policy document did not have any specifications about particular floors of the storehouse.

Builder asked to pay

In a different case, the state consumer commission also ordered Pune-based developer, Sterling Associates, to pay Rs 50,000 to Abdul Razzak Tamboli for providing him a flat that was smaller than promised. The shortfall was 30 sq-ft.