Ludhiana, March 15
The District Consumer Disputes and Redressal Forum has directed the National Insurance company to pay Rs 2,68,000 along with interest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum from July 26, 2000 till the date of payment to Dr Daljit Singh. The forum further directed the company to pay Rs 500 as cost of litigation.
According to the complaint, Dr Daljit Singh a resident of Model Gram had purchased a Maruti Zen VX car for Rs 3,32,154 and the same was insured with the company on September, 6, 1999.
The complainant stated before the forum that his car was stolen from his clinic at around 8 pm on January 6, 2000, and he had lodged a complaint with the Sarabha Nagar police station.
The complianant maintained that despite many efforts the police could not trace the car and he lodged the claim with the company. The complianant alleged that in spite of sending notice and registered letter for the settlement of the claim, the company had not done anything so far.
The company pleaded that it never refused to decide the claim and there was no deficiency in service. The company admitted the insurance of the car and appointment of surveyors for the settlement of the claim. However, the company denied theft of car for want of knowledge. The company pointed out that as per rules the police required six months to investigate the case before declaring it untraced but the FIR was lodged with the police on January 7, 2000 and the case was closed on May, 31, 2000. The company further stated that the issue of non-traceable certificate did not disclose as to how the police had investigated the case. The company alleged that the police report was made in a haste and the police had not conducted a complete enquiry.
However, it was admitted by the company that Swarandeep Singh and company was appointed as surveyor who had submitted the report on April, 26, 2000. The respondent said the complainant had submitted acceptance letter on June 30, 2000 and the letter is under scrutiny.
The forum observed that the report of the surveyors shows that they assessed the loss at Rs 2,68,000 and recommended the payment of the same as per the terms and conditions of the policy. The forum further stated that there had been a delay in settling the claim as when the report was submitted by the surveyor on April 26, 2000, the company should have settled the claim within three months of the receipt of the report but the claim had not been settled till now.
