Chandigarh consumer forum asks LIC to pay Rs 1.80L widowed woman

Upon the observation that a “person is alcoholic does not mean he will suffer a fall on the ground, though his gait may be abnormal or his speech could be slurred one”, the Consumer Forum of Chandigarh asked LIC to pay Rs 1.80 lakh to a widow from Chandigarh, whose husband’s accidental death claim was rejected on the ground that he died of slipping on the floor after consuming alcohol. The widow stated that her husband Harish Kumar was insured from LIC from September 5, 2013. On the evening of October 11, 2017, her husband fell on the floor after slipping in bathroom and sustained severe head injury, and died at PGIMER on October 26, 2017, during the course of treatment. She stated that even though the LIC was supposed to pay double the amount of the sum assured — which is Rs 1.50 lakh with premium, the insurance company had disbursed only Rs 1,74,948, which is ordinary claim of the sum assured with other benefits. The medical record of her husband showed cause of death as “cerebral damage consequent to blunt trauma to head” and “chronic alcoholism”, and alcoholism was not the cause of death as such the claim for double accident benefit of Rs 1.50 lakh was to be paid to her, which was rejected.