Commission fines risk firm, asks it to pay consumer for damaged car

The state consumer dispute redressal commission recently penalised the National Insurance company for failing to provide promised services to its consumer. The forum has asked the firm to pay the claim amount of Rs1,95,000, which the company was liable to pay for the damage of the consumer's insured vehicle, at 12% interest from January 2007. The forum also directed the firm to pay an additional Rs10,000 as compensation.

The case dates back to December 2006, when a car owned by Bagalkot Udyog Ltd met with an accident and got severely damaged. The complainant company approached the insurance firm and sought the insured amount for the vehicle. The firm, however, repudiated the claim on the ground that the car was registered on the name of some other company.

The company tried to explain to the insurance firm that the name under which the vehicle was registered was what it (the company) was called earlier. Yet the insurance firm refused to give the claim amount.

Aggrieved by the insurance firm's attitude, the company approached the commission.

The commission, after going through the evidence brought on record, said the insurance firm had already received intimation about the company's change of name, and yet, it refused to give the insurance claim amount. Holding the insurance firm at fault, the commission asked it to pay Bagalkot Udyog Ltd.