India News | SC Sets Aside NCDRC Order Reducing Insurance Sum of Car Damaged in Accident
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside an order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission which reduced the amount of payable insurance from Rs 5.02 lakh to Rs 53,543 for an insured vehicle that met with an accident in 2013.
New Delhi, Dec 17 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside an order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission which reduced the amount of payable insurance from Rs 5.02 lakh to Rs 53,543 for an insured vehicle that met with an accident in 2013.
A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Sandeep Mehta noted the commission reduced the amount relying on one of the policy conditions prescribing that in the event of any accident, the vehicle should not be left unattended without proper precaution.
The court said while interpreting such a clause, the court or commission or tribunal would see whether the said obligation was complied with reasonably or not.
"The context in which accident occurs and the circumstances that prevailed at the time of accident are extremely important to conclude whether the insured has taken reasonable care or not," the bench said.
The top court delivered its verdict on the appeals challenging a July 2019 order passed by the NCDRC.
It noted the appellant had purchased a private car insurance policy for his vehicle which was applicable from July 2, 2012 to July 1, 2013, and the maximum sum that could be claimed from the insurance firm was fixed at Rs 5,02,285.
The bench said while this policy was in force, the appellant met with an accident on March 25, 2013, while he was at the wheel when the vehicle fell in a gorge.
At the time of the accident, the top court said the appellant was accompanied by a co-passenger -- both of whom suffered injuries.
It came on record that the appellant rushed the co-passenger to a hospital, leaving the car capsized while a wire in the vehicle short-circuited, igniting fire in the vehicle.
The bench said while the appellant lodged an FIR on the same day, he wrote to the insurance company on March 28, 2013.
The top court said the insurance firm appointed a surveyor, who assessed the damage to be Rs 53,543 but said the damage occurred due to the appellant's omission to take care of the vehicle.
The firm denied the insurance claim citing delay in intimation and on having left the vehicle unattended, exposing it to further damage, the bench noted.
When the appellant moved a district consumer forum, it partly allowed the complaint and directed the insurance firm to release 75 per cent of the insurance amount.
Aggrieved by the order, both parties moved the state consumer commission, which directed the release of entire insured sum of Rs 5,02,285 with a 9 per cent interest from the date of filing the complaint.
The insurance company, however, moved the NCDRC which reduced the insurance amount to Rs 53,543, prompting the appellant to move the top court.
The apex court observed the surveyor's finding that the short-circuit was caused by the appellant was not based on any evidence.
The bench said no miscarriage of justice was made out by the insurance company and the state commission had addressed all the issues.
It further said the appellant was acting under "compelling circumstances" when he took his co-passenger to the hospital immediately owing to his precarious condition.
"It is not disputed that the co-passenger had also succumbed to the injury," the bench said, "it is also difficult to imagine that how he could have prevented short-circuiting of the vehicle which had fallen into a ditch".
While allowing the appeals, the bench set aside the NCDRC's verdict and restored the order of the state commission on releasing the entire insured declared value of Rs 5,02,285 to the appellant.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)