The UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed Oriental Insurance Company to pay Rs 5.8 lakh towards an insurance claim of a complainant whose house was burgled in 2005.

The complainant, Subhash Gupta, said that he took a household insurance policy from Oriental Insurance Company in 2005 covering all risks to household articles in his New Delhi residence.

Gupta said his house was looted when he was away with his family in Punjab and insured articles worth Rs 9.2 lakh were allegedly stolen. It was said that though a surveyor was appointed, the claim was repudiated by the company.

In its reply, Oriental Insurance Company said the claim had not been settled as the requisite documents and information were not furnished by the complainant. It was stated that the investigator returned a finding that the policy holder was not cooperating.

The forum maintained that there was no negligence on part of the complainant in leaving the keys of the locker in an unlocked briefcase. They ruled that the complainant had fully cooperated with the company and repudiation of the claim in the face of the surveyor’s report was a deficiency in service. The forum also directed the insurance company to pay Rs 5 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh as compensation for causing unnecessary delay in finalising the claim and causing the complainant mental and physical harassment. The company then appealed against the order of the forum to reduce the amount of compensation as the insurance amount of Rs 5 lakh had already been paid.

... contd.