Company told to pay insurance for dead cow

The state consumer commission asked an insurance company to pay the claim amount with interest to a farmer, Rajesh Shinde, whose cows had died in 2008.

The state consumer commission asked an insurance company to pay the claim amount with interest to a farmer, Rajesh Shinde, whose cows had died in 2008.

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Shinde had insured his two cows for Rs. 35,000 and Rs. 20,000 respectively. When they died in 2008, he informed the insurance company, who sent a surveyor to look into Shinde’s claim.

Shinde, in his complaint, said he filed for the claim with all the required papers, including the post-mortem report and the cattle valuation certificate signed by the government veterinary doctor, death certificates of the cow and ear-tags.

However, the insurance company rejected the claim on the ground that pieces of the ears of the insured dead cows were not sent to them. Shinde then filed a consumer complaint with the district forum of Satara.

However, when the district forum dismissed the complaint on technical grounds, Shinde challenged the order before the state consumer commission.

The commission observed that rejection of the claim was detrimental to the interest of the insured. “Repudiation based on this condition cannot be justified, hence it is arbitrary,” the commission observed.