'Non-lodging of FIR within 7 days in vehicle theft fatal'

A man's plea seeking claim from an insurance company for loss of his vehicle parts has been dismissed by a consumer forum, which said failure to lodge an FIR for a "period of seven days in case of theft of a vehicle is fatal".
While rejecting the plea of Delhi resident Kishan Chand, against National Insurance Co Ltd, West Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, presided by Bimla Makin, said, "There were serious doubts about the genuineness of this claim".
"Non-lodging of the FIR for a period of seven days in the case of theft of a vehicle is fatal and adversely affects the rights of the Opposite Party (insurance company) and under facts and circumstances of this case, there are serious doubts about the genuineness of this claim.

"Hence...We hold that complaint is time barred and even otherwise there was no deficiency of service on the part of the Opposite Party," the forum said.
It noted there were lots of unanswered queries regarding loss and recovery of vehicle.
"It is difficult to believe that under what circumstances the vehicle was stolen and how it was recovered by the complainant himself in another state without any assistance from anybody," the forum said.

The forum also noted that there was no witness of recovery of this vehicle from the place from where it is alleged to have been recovered.
"...Story put forward by the complainant is not believable per se and added with it is the fact that for seven days neither the police nor the insurance company was informed of the theft of the vehicle," it said.

Chand had told the forum that he had purchased a Maruti Omni fitted with CNG kit for commercial purpose to be used as taxi.
The vehicle was insured with the insurance company, effective from December 29, 2006 to December 28, 2007 and during this period it got stolen on November 23, 2007 and an FIR was recorded on November 30, 2007.
Later, however, he found the vehicle abandoned at Tawadu, Haryana with all its important parts stolen.
The complainant got the vehicle repaired and spent Rs one lakh towards repairs/ installation of stolen parts and subsequently lodged a claim with the the company on December 24, 2007.

Inspite of repeated visits, his claim was not settled, he said, adding that, thereafter, he approached the forum seeking a direction to the company to pay Rs lakh.
The insurance company, however, contended before the forum that no FIR regarding the theft was lodged at the police station within seven days and no intimation was given to it.