Reliance insurance to pay Rs 2 lakh compensation to car owner

District Consumer Redressal Forum rejected the company's argument that there was a delay in filing insurance claim by the policy holder

The District Consumer Redressal Forum here has ordered Reliance General Insurance Company to pay a compensation of Rs 2 lakh, besides Rs 6 lakh claim amount, to a local resident whose car was stolen.

Forum President Umesh Jhavalikar and member N D Kadam, in an order early this week, rejected the company's argument that there was a delay in filing insurance claim by the policy holder, Govind M Mandle, after the vehicle was stolen.

They held there was deficiency in service on part of the company in rejecting the claim and ordered it to pay claim amount of Rs 6 lakh and Rs 2 lakh as compensation to the complainant, a resident of Kalwa town, for causing mental agony and towards legal expenses.

Mandle said his car Chevrolet Tavera, which was insured with the company, went missing from near a local railway station on October 28, 2009.

He lodged a complaint with the police, who carried out a search for the car and on November 7, 2009 registered an FIR.

Mandle, meanwhile, filed insurance claim. The company rejected the same, saying there was a delay of nine days in filing of the vehicle theft complaint. Being aggrieved, he moved the Forum against the company.

The Forum, a quasi-judicial authority, observed the insurance firm rejected the claim on technical grounds and showed deficiency in service.