Oriental Insurance in Nagpur refused to pay insurance claim on the death of a cyclist due to lack of driving license. The commission considered it unfair and ordered to pay three lakh rupees to the wife of the deceased.
Insurance companies are famous for imposing various conditions and refusing to pay insurance claims. But, in Nagpur, Maharashtra, Oriental Insurance Company crossed all limits. When a cyclist died, the company refused to pay the claim to the family because the driving license of the deceased was not submitted.
Now the Consumer Commission has directed Oriental Insurance Company Limited to pay the claim to the family of the person who died due to a collision with a motorcycle while riding a bicycle. The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission said in its order passed on March 25 that such a demand made by the insurance company was “unreasonable” and “illegal”.
The Commission directed the insurance company to pay Rs 3 lakh to the wife of the deceased and pay nine percent interest from January 30, 2014, the date of receiving the documents related to the claim. Vijay Dhoble, a resident of Nagpur, was seriously injured on October 1, 2012 when his bicycle was hit by a motorcycle.
Later, he died during treatment due to injuries. Dhoble had taken a sum insured for Rs 3 lakh from the insurance company. After Dhoble’s death, his wife Pramila approached the insurance company. But the claim was rejected due to which she approached the commission.
Lawyer expressed surprise
The commission noted in its order that the insurance company had rejected Pramila’s claim saying that she did not submit her husband’s two-wheeler driving license, postmortem report and some other documents. During the hearing, the woman’s lawyer expressed surprise as to how the company could ask for Dhoble’s driving license when he was riding a bicycle at the time of the accident.
The lawyer also told the commission that the postmortem report was with the police. Commission head Sachin Shimpi and member B.B. Chaudhary said that rejecting the claim on the ground of not submitting the driving license is unfair and illegal.
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