A district consumer forum has asked the National Insurance Company to pay Rs 1 lakh for repudiating the insurance claim of one of its clients. The complainant, Ratan Sethi, had purchased a vehicle from Tajinder Sethi in December 2008. He had insured the car for an amount of Rs 90,000 with the company and claims to have stated that the “formalities of the transfer of the registration certificate of the vehicle was still in process”. When the car was stolen, the company refused to pay the insurance amount saying that he was “not the registered owner of the vehicle on the date of the theft”.
However, the forum said the insurance company issued the insurance in the name of complainant with prior knowledge that “the certificate of registration of the vehicle had not been transferred” in his name and hence, it “cannot take benefit of its own wrong”.
The company was told to pay to the complainant an amount of Rs 90,000 with interest at 9% per annum from the date of repudiation of the claim till the realization of the claim. B B Chaudhary, president of the forum said, “However, the complainant shall transfer the certificate of registration of the vehicle in the name of the insurance company.” The forum also asked the company to pay Rs 10,000 as litigation charges.
