BEFORE THE DISTRICT FORUM: KURNOOL
Present: Sri. T.SundaraRamaiah, B.Com B.L., President
And
Sri.M.Krishna Reddy, M.Sc., M.Phil., Male Member
And
Smt. S.Nazeerunnisa, B.A., B.L., Lady Member
Wednesday the 11th day of May, 2011
CC.No 130/2010
BETWEEN:
M.Sunkamma, W/o Late Maraboyanbi Maddaiah,
R/o H.No.1/2,Venkatanayunipalle village, DhoneMandal, Kurnool District-518222.
…Complainant
-Vs-
- Golden Trust Financial Services,Represented by its Manager,
16, R.N.Mukherjee Road,Kolkatta, West Bengal State-700001.
- M/s National Insurance CompanyLimited,Represented by its Manager,
Division-III, 1, Shakespeare Sarani, 6th floor,Kolkatta, West Bengal State-700001.
- M/s National Insurance Company Limited,Represented by its Branch Manager,
D.No.40-344, 1stfloor, Tula Complex,Gandhi Nagar, Kurnool Town.
Kurnool District-518001
…Opposite Parties
This complaint is coming on this day for orders in the presence of Sri V.Venkateswara Reddy, Advocate for complainant and Sri M.Azmathulla, Advocate for opposite party No.1 and Sri K.Muralidhar, Advocate for opposite parties 2 and 3 for upon perusing the material papers on record, the Forum made the following.
ORDER
(As per Sri.T.SundaraRamaiah, President)
CC. No. 130/2010
- This complaint is filed under section 12 of C. P. Act, 1986 praying:-
(a) To direct the opposite parties to pay accidental death claim of Rs.3,00,000/- to the complainant which the husband of the complaint is entitled;
(b) To direct the opposite parties to pay future interest at 24% p.a. from the date of the death till payment;
- To direct the opposite parties to pay Rs.20,000/- to the complainant towards mental agony;
- To direct the opposite parties to pay cost of Rs.5,000/- towards costs of the proceedings;
(e) To grant such other reliefs as the Hon’bleForum may deem fit and proper.
2. The case of the complainant in brief is as under:- The husband of the complainant by name MarabuyaniMaddaiah joined as a member in “Golden Multi Service Club” of first opposite party. As per the agreement between the first and second opposite parties, the second opposite party issued “Group Janatha Personal Accidental Insurance Policy”under policy bearing No.100300/47/01/9600022/03/96/30447. The said policy was in force from 31-03-2004 to 30-03-2009. The value of the risk covered under the policy is Rs.3,00,000/-. The complainant is the nominee in the policy issued by opposite party No.2 in favour of M.Maddaiah the husband of the complainant. The complainant’s husband died on 30-06-2007 due to snake bite. The death of M.Maddaiah is an accidental death. Afterknowing about the policy in the name of her husband the complainant on 21-07-2009 got issued a legal notice to the second opposite party requesting to issue claim form. After receiving the claim form the complainant submitted the same along with available documents to the first opposite party. The first opposite party sent the same to the second opposite party. The complainant along with claim form submitted the death certificate of her husband issued by TahsildarDhone where in it is mentioned that her husband died accidental. No complainant was given to the police regarding the death of M.Maddaiah. Therefore the complainant could not submit the F.I.R., Final Report and Post Mortem Certificate to opposite party No.2.Opposite party No.2 received the claim and failed to settle the same.Hence the complaint.
3. Opposite party No.1 filed written version stating that the complaint is not maintainable. Opposite parties 1 and 2 entered into the memorandum of understanding. Opposite party No.2 agreed to extend the insurance coverage to the members of opposite party No.1 after receipt of the premium.Opposite party No.2 issued the policy certificate. As per the memorandum of understanding the entire liability will be on the insurance company. Opposite party No.1 has no role in settlement of the claim. Opposite party No.1 forwarded the claim of the complainant to opposite party No.2. The complainant is not entitled for any relief against opposite party No.1.
Opposite party No.3 filed written version and the same is adopted by opposite party No.2. It is stated in the written version of opposite party No.3 that the complaint is not maintainable. The policy does not cover the death caused due to snake bite. No police report is made available to ascertain the cause of death of M.Maddaiah. It is not proved that the death of M.Maddaiah was accidentally caused by external visible and violent means. The complainant simply sent the claim form along with death certificate which was obtained after one year four months of the death of deceased M.Maddaiah. On what capacity Tahsildar issued death certificate of M.Maddaiah is not known. The death certificate submitted by the complainant is not valid. The complainant not produced documents like F.I.R., Inquest, Post Mortem Report and Final Report to prove the cause of death. M.Maddaiah died on 30-06-2007. The complaint is filed on25-06-2010. The complaint is barred by limitation. There is no deficiency of service on the part of opposite parties 2 and 3. The complaint is liable to be dismissed.
4. On behalf of the complainant Ex.A1 to A9 are marked and the sworn affidavits of complainant and MekalaKrishnaiah are filed. On behalf of the opposite parties Ex.B1 to B13 are marked and the sworn affidavit of opposite party No.3 is filed.
5. Both sides filed written arguments.
6. The points that arise for consideration are:
- Whether the complaint is barred by time?
- Whether there is deficiency of service on the part of the opposite parties?
- Whether the complainant is entitled to the reliefs as prayed for?
(iv) To what relief?
7. POINT No.1:- The complainant who is the wife of the deceased M.Maddaiah filed the present complaint claiming an amount of Rs.3,00,000/- under the Group Janata Personal Accidental Insurance Policy Ex.A1 issued by opposite party No.2. According to the complainant she is the nominee under Ex.A1 policy and her husband died accidentally due to snake bite on 30-06-2007. As seen from Ex.A1 copy of insurance policy it is very clear that the complainant is the nominee and that the policy was in force from 31-03-2004 to 30-03-2009. The complainant filed the present complaint on 25-06-2010. It is the case of the opposite party No.2 that the present complaint is filed three years after the death of M.Maddaiah and it is barred by time. Admittedly the complainant submitted the claim to opposite party No.2 through opposite party No.1. Opposite party No.2 repudiated the claim of the complainant under Ex.B2 dated 25-06-2010 stating that police report and other documents were not submitted by the complainant to ascertain the cause of death. The period of limitation to file the complaint under Consumer Protection Act is two years from the date on which the cause of action has arisen. In the case of insurance claim the cause of action starts from the date on which the claim has been repudiated by the insurance company. In the present case the complainant filed the complaint on 25-06-2010, the date on which opposite party No.2 repudiated the claim of the complainant. As the complainant filed the present complaint with in two years from the date of the repudiation of the claim, it cannot be said that the present complaint is barred by time.
8. POINTS 2 & 3:-It is the case of the complainant that her husband M.Maddaiah is a member of in Golden Multi Service Club and that opposite party No.2 agreed to extend the insurance coverage to the members of opposite party No.1. Opposite party No.1 in its written version admitted that there was memorandum of understanding in between it and opposite party No.2. Ex.A1 policy revels that the M.Maddaiah husband of the complainant was a member and that he appointed the complainant as a nominee. As seen from Ex.A1 it is very clear that it covers the accidental death of insured. It is for the complainant to establish that her husband died accidentally on 30-06-2007 due to snake bite. The complainant in her sworn affidavit clearly stated that her husband died on 30-06-2007 due to snake bite. She also filed sworn affidavit of MekalaKrishnaiahsurpunch of village in support of her contention that her husband M.Maddaiah died 30-06-2007 due to snake bite in the village. Admittedly the complainant submitted the claim from to opposite party No.2 through opposite party No.1 along with death certificate of M.Maddaiah issued by Thasildar, Dhone. It is mentioned in Ex.A2 that M.Maddaiah husband of the complainant died on 30-06-2007 due to snake bite. It is also mentioned in Ex.A2 that the death of M.Maddaiah was registered on 31-06-2007 under Registration No.22/2007. No doubt the complainant obtained the original of Ex.A2 from the Thasildar on 03-10-2008 after lapse of one year four months from the date of death of the deceased M.Maddaiah. Merely because the complainant obtained the original of Ex.A2 after lapse ofone year from the date of death of M.Maddaiah it cannot be said that Ex.A2 is not genuine.From the affidavit evidence of the complainant and death certificate of Ex.A2 it is very clear that M.Maddaiah died on 30-06-2007 due to snake bite. It is argued by the learned counsel appearing for the opposite party No.2 that the death of M.Maddaiah was not caused by external visible and violent means and that the complainant is not entitled for the amount. There is a material on record to show that the cause of death of M.Maddaiah was due to snake bite. It is an accidental death caused by external force. According to the complainant no report was given to police about the death of her husband due to snake bite. Opposite party No.2 repudiated the claim of the complainant on the ground that she failed to produce the F.I.R., Inquest Report, Post Mortem Report and Final Report to prove the cause of death. The complainant could not furnish the above said documents as no report was given to the police about the accidental death of her husband. Merely because the complainant could not produce the F.I.R., Inquest Report and other documents, the claim of the complainant could not be repudiated. The complainant filed the death certificate of her husband issued by the Thasildar, Dhone who is a Responsible Public Officer. There is clear mention in Ex.A2 death certificate of M.Maddaiah that he died due to snake bite on 30-06-2007. M.Maddaiah died due to snake bite while the police was in force. As the death of M.Maddaiah is proved as accidental due to snake bite, the repudiation of the claim of the complainant by opposite party No.2 amounts to deficiency of service. The complainant who is a nominee under the policy is entitled to the insurance amount of Rs.3,00,000/-.
9. In the result the complaint is partly allowed directing opposite party No.2 to pay an amount of Rs.3,00,000/- to the complainant with interest at 9% from the date of the repudiation of the claim i.e. 25-06-2010 till the date of payment along with cost of Rs.500/-. The complaint against opposite parties 1 and 3 is dismissed.
Dictated to the stenographer, transcribed by her, corrected and pronounced by us in the open bench on this the day 11thof May, 2011.
Sd/- Sd/- Sd/-
MALE MEMBER PRESIDENT LADY MEMBER
APPENDIX OF EVIDENCE
Witnesses Examined
For the complainant :Nill For the opposite parties:Nill
List of exhibits marked for the complainant:-
Ex.A1 Photo copy of policy No.100300/47/01/9600022/03/96/30447
periods from 31-3-2004 to 30-3-2009.
Ex.A2. Photo copy of death certificate, dated 03-10-2008 issued by Thasildar, Dhone.
Ex.A3 Letter dated 29-06-2009 of complainant to the
opposite party No.3.
Ex.A4 Photo copy of letter dated 30-06-2009 of opposite party No.3 to the complainant.
Ex.A5 Office copy of legal notice dated 21-07-2009.
Ex.A6 Postal acknowledgement.
Ex.A7 Letter dated 25-08-2009 of opposite party No.1 to the
complainant.
Ex.A8 Letter dated 22-09-2009 of complainant to opposite party No.1.
Ex.A9 Letter dated09-10-2009 of opposite party No.1 to
opposite party No.2.
List of exhibits marked for the opposite parties:-
Ex.B1 Photo copy of policy No.100300/47/01/9600022/03/96/30447 periods from 31-03-2004 to 30-03-2009.
Ex.B2 Photo copy of letter dated 25-06-2010 of opposite party No.2 to
complainant.
Ex.B3 Photo copy of letter dated 29-06-2009 of complainant to the opposite party No.3.
Ex.B4 Photo copy of letter dated 30-06-2009 of opposite party No.3 to the complainant.
Ex.B5 Photo copy of legal notice dated 21-07-2009.
Ex.B6 Photo copy of Postal Acknowledgement.
Ex.B7 Photo copy of Letter dated 25-08-2009 of opposite party No.1 to the complainant.
Ex.B8 Photo copy of Letter dated 22-09-2009 of complainant to opposite party No.1.
Ex.B9 Photo copy of death certificate, dated 03-10-2008 issued by Thasildar, Dhone.
Ex.B10 Photo copy of Letter dated09-10-2009 of opposite party No.1 to opposite party No.2.
Ex.B11 Photo copy of memorandum of understanding,
dated 01-01-2001 opposite party No.1 and opposite party No.2.
Ex.B12 Photo copy of letter dated 17-07-2001 issued by
opposite party No.2.
Ex.B13 Photo copy of letter dated 09-10-2009 issued by
opposite party No.2.
Sd/- Sd/- Sd/-
MALE MEMBER PRESIDENT LADY MEMBER
// Certified free copy communicated under Rule 4 (10) of the
A.P.S.C.D.R.C. Rules, 1987//
Copy to:-
Complainant and Opposite parties :
Copy was made ready on :
Copy was dispatched on :
