Insurer asked to pay claim, compensation to robbed shop owner

The Thane District Consumer Redressal Commission has held an insurance company guilty of deficiency in services and directed it to pay a wine shop owner, who was robbed of over Rs 1.8 lakh, full claim amount and compensation.

The Thane District Consumer Redressal Commission has held an insurance company guilty of deficiency in services and directed it to pay a wine shop owner, who was robbed of over Rs 1.8 lakh, full claim amount and compensation. In three orders issued recently, the commission ordered Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Ltd to pay the claim amount in the three claims filed by Reshma Budhrani, owner of three wine shops.

The commissioner also ordered the insurance company to pay compensation of Rs 15,000 on each of the counts, which include compensation for mental suffering and litigation costs. Budhrani had filed claims for Mohit Wines and V K Wines of Bhiwandi for Rs 91,500 and Rs 60,000 respectively and Ranjit Wines of Navi Mumbai for Rs 37,000.

In the claim, the counsel advocate R S Motwani stated that the complainant operated the three wine shops and money from these shops were deposited at Navjeevan Co-op Bank in Ulhasnagar. Budhrani had obtained an insurance of Rs 1 lakh each for the amount, which was in transit from the three shops to the bank.

In August 2008, when an employee of the claimant was on her way to deposit a total of Rs 1,88,500 from all three shops, an unknown person robbed her in Ulhasnagar, following which a police complaint was lodged and the insurance claim was made. The insurance company, however, declined the claim in September 2008, pointing out that there was a specific condition in the policy that "insurance is covered only for cash in Transit from the insured shop to the Bank and vice versa within the radius of 55 km".

The commission, however, noted that repudiation of the complainant's claim is illegal and there is a deficiency in service on the part of the insurance company. The company has hence been directed to pay the claimant the claim amount with an interest at 9 per cent per annuum, from the time it declined the claim till the realisation of the amount.