‘Drunk’ mishap victim wins insurance battle

A district consumer disputes forum has asked ICICI Lombard General Insurance to pay one of its clients Rs 3,25,000 for denying an insurance claim on grounds that the backseat passenger was drunk when the car met with an accident.

The New Delhi Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum asked the insurance company to pay the insurance claim of Rs 2.50 lakh along with Rs 75,000 as “harassment and litigation charges”.

The order comes after Gopal Tripathi filed a complaint against the insurance company that repudiated a claim “arbitrarily” when Tripathi suffered accidental injuries. Tripathi in his complaint stated that the car was being driven by his driver Rama Kant Yadav.

The company stated to the forum that the complainant was intoxicated after consuming alcohol. This defence was observed by the bench that said “that is a totally irrelevant fact as he (Tripathi) was sitting in the car and not driving it”. “The opposing party has not applied its mind and arbitrarily repudiated the claim,” the bench further stated.

The forum further observed that “the opposing party deliberately neither paid the claim nor produced any evidence regarding the driver who was driving the car, rather they arbitrarily denied the claim”.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Drunk-mishap-victim-wins-insurance-battle/articleshow/18298713.cms