No FIR or postmortem is required if the victim is involved in an accident: TS consumer forum on accident cases

Hyderabad: Telangana consumer forum has directed Reliance General Insurance to pay Rs 3 lakh for deficiency in service while selling a life insurance policy. Besides this, the consumer forum has ordered the insurance company to pay a compensation of 10,000 to the customer.

A decade ago, complainant Mohd Fayum’ father met with an accident at Mahabubnagar district jail crossroads.

He was on his way to purchase goods for a general store he ran at his own house in Harijanwada.

Following the accident, he was treated at Shree Dhanvanthri Hospital at Mahabubnagar, where two metal rods were placed in his leg. However, the treatment wasn’t of any impact as he continued to be bed-ridden and subsequently passed away on August 27, 2013.

At the time of the accident, the complainant’s father had an accidental policy cover of Rs 3 lakh with Reliance General Insurance (opposite party). Mohd. Fayum, who was made a nominee alleged that the insurance company neither accepted his claim.

Mohd. Fayum said, “I submitted claim forms along with medical bills, Discharge summary, X-ray film, disability

certificate and death through registered post, but the opposite party neither accepted the claim nor refused the claim”.

The policy owner died in an accident and as per the policy the company is bound to pay the insurance amount.

But, the company scrutinised the documents and concluded that there is no proof of the occurrence of the accident. Despite an FIR copy mentioning the accident and post mortem report.

Ten years into hearing the arguments made by both the parties, the forum said, “No FIR or postmortem is required if the victim is involved in an accident. To prove his genuineness, the complainant submitted a disability certificate and it reveals that the father of the complainant was involved in an accident and was disabled 86%. Hence the complainant’s father was involved in an accident and the accident is genuine. As such the complainant is entitled to the relief sought for by him besides some reasonable compensation and costs.”

Hence the forum directed Reliance General Insurance to pay an amount of Rs.3,00,000 along with compensation of Rs.10,000 and costs of Rs.1,000 to the complainant Mohd. Fayum