Insurance firm asked to pay compensation for deficiency

A consumer forum here has held an insurance company guilty of deficiency in service after it refused to pay claim to a man for his stolen motorcycle on the grounds that he had failed to take reasonable care of the vehicle and directed it to pay compensation for harassment.

Central Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, presided by Rakesh Kapoor, asked the ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd to pay Rs 25,000 as compensation and cost of litigation to complainant Dinesh Vohra and Rs 54,000 after deducting 10 per cent of the Insured Declared Value for the motorcycle.

In its order, the forum rejected the firm's contention that Vohra had failed to take reasonable care of his bike.

"We... Are of the opinion that there was no want of reasonable care on the part of the complainant in the present case," the forum's panel members said, adding that "repudiation of the claim by the firm was not justified."

While holding the firm deficient in rendering services, the forum asked it to pay Vohra Rs 54,000 after deducting 10 per cent of the IDV on account of depreciation, Rs 20,000 as compensation for pain and agony suffered by him and Rs 5,000 as the cost of litigation.

Vohra had told the forum that his motorcycle, insured by the firm, was was stolen in June 2010.

When he filed an insurance claim with the firm, it denied him the same saying he had failed to take reasonable care of the motorcycle, his complaint said.