The court has held that an insurance company cannot refuse to pay the ‘death claim’ of a government employee just because his wife has been given a government job as compensation..
In an important judgment, the Gujarat high court has held that an insurance company cannot refuse to pay the ‘death claim’ of a government employee who has died just because his wife has been given a government job as compensation.
The bench of justices Akil Kureshi and CL Soni ordered National Insurance Company to pay Rs14.90 lakh as the claim amount to the legal heirs of Girdhar Devji who died in a road accident in 1994.
While delivering the order, the bench observed: “The life of a person cannot be evaluated in terms of money and the insurance company has to pay compensation for mental shock and loss, to the wife of the deceased person.” As per the case details, Devji was working in the then Gujarat Electricity Board (GEB) when he was killed in a road accident. His wife, Rekha, made the third-party claim against National Insurance Company after the death of Devji. In the meantime, Rekha was given a government job in the place of her husband on compensatory ground.
After the insurance company started scrutiny and evaluation of the claim made by Rekha, it said that the claim cannot be entertained as the deceased person’s wife had got a job and, therefore, had a source of income. Hence, there has been no ‘future income loss’.
The company said that as per the terms and conditions of the policy, the payable dues shall be calculated on the expected future loss of income to the family of the deceased person. In the present case, however, as there is no future loss to the wife of the deceased policy holder as she had got a job and, hence, had a source of income. When the court of Motor Accident Claims Tribunal did not entertain the petition of the family members of Girdhar Devji, they moved the HC for relief.
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