Insurance firm penalised Rs10K for refusing to pay for damaged mobile

Ludhiana: District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has penalized an insurance company Rs10,000 for not paying the claim of a customer whose phone had suffered damages after falling accidentally. Of the Rs10,000 rupees penalty, the forum — comprising its president GK Dhir and member Jyotsna Thatai — ordered the National Insurance Company Limited, Connaught Circus, New Delhi, to pay Rs3,000 as compensation for mental agony, and an equal amount as litigation expenses to customer Shubhjeet Singh of Harcharan Nagar in Ludhiana. The forum also directed the insurance company to pay Rs4,000 on account of damage to the insured mobile, within 30 days from the date of receipt of copy of order.
In his complaint, the complainant said he purchased the mobile phone Redmi Note 4 for Rs9,899 on 24 September 2017, under a scheme offered by Amazon on insurance of gadget/mobile done through them. An amount of Rs899 was collected from the complainant through Amazon on COD (cash on delivery) as premium amount. An online insurance policy was issued for the period from 25 September 2017 to 24 September 2018 by allotting a customer ID number.
During the policy period, the mobile got accidentally damaged on 13 September 2018, because it fell down when the complainant was going on a motor cycle to the courts. The seller and insurance company confirmed lodging of a claim and receiving of certain documents from the complainant on 13 September 2018 at 4.23pm. On 14 September 2018, the seller and insurance company informed the complainant through e-mail that the claim stood rejected on four grounds stated in the e-mail.
Thereafter, the complainant lodged a protest with the seller and insurance company, and even served a legal notice, but despite that, the claim was not paid, and that is why the complainant sought compensation on account of damage to the mobile phone, estimated at Rs4,000 with interest, besides compensation for mental agony and harassment of Rs25,000, and litigation expenses of Rs7,500. “The damage report got prepared, which shows the loss of mobile of Rs4,000,” said the complaint.
The opposite parties were ex-parte in the case. The customer produced documents, including those of insurance policy, as evidence. The forum, after going through evidence into the case, observed that perusal of damage/incident report revealed that the complainant was going to court on a motorcycle, when a three-wheeler came in front of his motorcycle, resulting in abrupt stoppage of the motorcycle, due to which, the mobile in question fell down from the left side pocket of the shirt of the complainant on the road, resulting in damage to the mobile. It held that the estimated loss of Rs4,000 was assessed through a report, and the damage to the insured mobile phone in question took place on account of accident between the motorcycle and autorickshaw.
The forum held that because of the sudden appearance of autorickshaw in front of the complainant’s motorcycle, the complainant had to apply brakes suddenly, resulting in the phone falling off from his front shirt pocket. It observed that damage to the phone took place by accident, and due to provision of accidental damage protection through the welcome letter to the customer (complainant), the claim was payable.
The forum also dashed the the insurance company’s argument that since the phone was in the man’s shirt pocket when he was riding the two-wheeler, the claim was not payable. It observed that such a clause was not mentioned anywhere in the welcome letter. After repudiation of the insurance company’s claim, the complainant lodged a protest on 14 September last year and served a legal notice to the insurance company, but despite that, the claim amount has still not been paid by the insurer.
The forum, however, did not penalize the seller.