Pune jeweller compensated 5 yrs after theft
Five years after his shop was burgled, a Pune jeweller will get back the price of the gold and silver ornaments stolen from his shop in June 2007.
Five years after his shop was burgled, a Pune jeweller will get back the price of the gold and silver ornaments stolen from his shop in June 2007. The Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed National Insurance Company Ltd to pay an amount of around Rs29 lakh to Mehta Jewellers along with interest at the rate of 10% from July 2010, when the jeweller approached the commission.
On June 26, 2007, unidentified persons broke into the shop of Mehta Jewellers on Centre Street in Pune and ran away with gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 31 lakh. The owners of the shop had lodged an FIR with local police and also informed the insurance company.
The insurance company- appointed surveyor estimated the loss was Rs 28.95 lakh. However, the insurance company repudiated the claim on the grounds that the jeweller had kept the valuables in a steel safe of local make.
The insurance company held that one of the conditions of the insurance policy required the jeweller to keep all cash and valuables in a 'burglar-resistant safe.'
The consumer commission, however, found the insurance company had not defined the term "burglar-proof safe" anywhere in the policy document. The commission rejected the contention after finding the same safe was used by the jeweller for years and it was inspected on several occasions by the insurance company, which did not raise any objection to its make or quality.
The bench of presiding member SR Khanzode and member Narendra Kawde of the Commission, therefore, directed the insurance company to pay the jeweller the claim amount.