In the Court of the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Unit -I, Kolkata, 8B, Nelie Sengupta Sarani, 4th Floor, Kolkata-700087. CDF/Unit-I/Case No. 309/2011. 1) Mr. Sanjib Dubey, 21B, Dhirendra Nath Chatterjee Road, Baranagar, Kolkata-35, P.S. Baranagar. ---------- Complainant ---Versus--- 1) Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. 570, Rectifier House, Naigaum Cross Road, Wadala (W), Mumbai-400031. 2) Mr. Anil Khanna, Senior Vice President, Head of Motor Insurance & Legal Claims, Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. 570, Rectifier House, Naigaum Cross Road, Wadala (W), Mumbai-400031. 3) Sri Arbind Thakur, Claim Section, Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. Himalaya Houses, 8th Floor, 38-B, J.L. Nehru Road, Kolkata P.S. Shakespeare Sarani. ----------Opposite Parties Present : Sri Sankar Nath Das, President. Dr. Subir Kumar Chaudhuri, Member. Smt. Samiksha Bhattacharya, Member Order No. 20 Dated 30/07/2013. The case of the complainant in short is that complainant had paucity of fund and he approached Tata Motors Finance Ltd. to finance him for purchasing a chassis from French Motor Car Co. Kolkata. Tata Motors Finance Ltd. agreed to finance the complainant which was to be repaid by 46 EMI. The regular equal monthly payment cycle was fixed on the 02 of every month and comments from 2.8.09. Complainant has purchased a chassis from French Motor Car Co. Kolkata, which has been registered as WB 37B 6987, engine/chassis no.90 F62765349 MAT 42603191 F 14204. Complainant got the body constructed from the body builder and the type of vehicle is truck. The said vehicle was insured with a company through an agent. Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. approached the complainant to get the vehicle insured with them. The complainant agreed to the proposal of the said company and the said vehicle of the complainant was insured with the Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. The period of insurance is from 31.12.10 to 30.12.11. The insurance policy number is 1512702334000608 and the yearly premium fixed by the said company is Rs.24,818/-. On 12.1.11 at about 22-20 hrs. the said vehicle met with an accident on National High Way No.7. Complainant lodged a diary on 13.1.11 in Garhbeta P.S., Paschim Medinipur. Complainant intimated the Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. about the accident and submitted his insurance claim at the branch office viz. Reliance Insurance Co., Ashram More, near Veteran Petrol Pump, Asansole for the said vehicle. Nirsha Break Down Service, G.T. Road, Nirsha Kanta, Dhanbad, charged Rs.7500/- to take the vehicle from accidental place to garage. The vehicle was take to by truck body makers named and styled as Kishor Shaw, Panchet Road, Chirkunda 3 No. Charai, Dist. Dhanbad (Jharkhand) who estimated the repairing charge for Rs.1,84,000/- of the said vehicle. O.p. by its letter dt.13.6.11 surprisingly intimated the complainant “This is with reference to your claim intimation dt.14.6.11; we wish to inform you that we had deputed a surveyor immediately. The surveyor had conducted the survey on 14th Jan and taken sum necessary photographs and he had done the necessary assessment. On received of the survey report we had observed that you had not submitted verified previous insurance policy copy. In this regards the matter is severally requested to you over phone. But you had never, neither shown interest for submission previous insurance policy copy. Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. has further shown a reason to the complainant that his claim shall not be repudiated as he has not submitted the valid previous policy copy prior to Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. till date. At the time of making the insurance policy for the said vehicle, the said insurance company did not ask for previous insurance policy copy. Complainant has been approaching the said company to repudiate his legal accidental claim but the said company has not given any heed to that and sitting tight over the matter. That after waiting for a protracted period, the complainant sent a legal notice to the o.ps. on 29.6.11 through his advocate which was received by the o.ps. on 2.7.11. The said vehicle is only source of income of the complainant and he is suffering lot of troubles financially as well as mentally. In spite of the fact that the o.ps. have received the legal notice on 2.7.11, they have not taken any step in this regard. Hence the case was filed by the complainant with the prayer contained in the petition of complaint. O.ps. had entered their appearance in this case by filing w/v and denied all the material allegations labeled against them and prayed for dismissal of the case. Ld. lawyer of o.ps. in the course of argument submitted that the case has got no merit and the same is liable to be dismissed. Decision with reasons: We have gone through the pleadings of the parties, evidence and documents in particular and we find that complainant had paucity of fund and he approached Tata Motors Finance Ltd. to finance him for purchasing a chassis from French Motor Car Co. Kolkata. Tata Motors Finance Ltd. agreed to finance the complainant which was to be repaid by 46 EMI. The regular equal monthly payment cycle was fixed on the 02 of every month and comments from 2.8.09. Complainant has purchased a chassis from French Motor Car Co. Kolkata, which has been registered as WB 37B 6987, engine/chassis no.90 F62765349 MAT 42603191 F 14204. Complainant got the body constructed from the body builder and the type of vehicle is truck. The said vehicle was insured with a company through an agent. We further find that Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. approached the complainant to get the vehicle insured with them. The complainant agreed to the proposal of the said company and the said vehicle of the complainant was insured with the Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. The period of insurance is from 31.12.10 to 30.12.11. The insurance policy number is 1512702334000608 and the yearly premium fixed by the said company is Rs.24,818/-. It is seen from the record that on 12.1.11 at about 22-20 hrs. the said vehicle met with an accident on National High Way No.7. Complainant lodged a diary on 13.1.11 in Garhbeta P.S., Paschim Medinipur. Complainant intimated the Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. about the accident and submitted his insurance claim at the branch office viz. Reliance Insurance Co., Ashram More, near Veteran Petrol Pump, Asansole for the said vehicle. Nirsha Break Down Service, G.T. Road, Nirsha Kanta, Dhanbad, charged Rs.7500/- to take the vehicle from accidental place to garage. The vehicle was take to by truck body makers named and styled as Kishor Shaw, Panchet Road, Chirkunda 3 No. Charai, Dist. Dhanbad (Jharkhand) who estimated the repairing charge for Rs.1,84,000/- of the said vehicle. It is also seen that o.p. by its letter dt.13.6.11 surprisingly intimated the complainant “This is with reference to your claim intimation dt.14.6.11; we wish to inform you that we had deputed a surveyor immediately. The surveyor had conducted the survey on 14th Jan and taken sum necessary photographs and he had done the necessary assessment. On received of the survey report we had observed that you had not submitted verified previous insurance policy copy. In this regards the matter is severally requested to you over phone. But you had never, neither shown interest for submission previous insurance policy copy’”. It transpires that Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. has further shown a reason to the complainant that his claim shall not be repudiated as he has not submitted the valid previous policy copy prior to Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. till date. At the time of making the insurance policy for the said vehicle, the said insurance company did not ask for previous insurance policy copy. And complainant has been approaching the said company to repudiate his legal accidental claim but the said company has not given any heed to that and sitting tight over the matter. In view of the findings of above and on perusal of the entire materials on record we find that o.ps. neither repudiated nor settled the claim and we further find that complainant has made out his case and at the same time has substantiated to prove his case and is entitled to relief. Hence, ordered, That the case is allowed on contest with cost against the o.ps. O.ps. are jointly and/or severally directed to pay to the complainant a sum of Rs.1,23,886/- (Rupees one lakh twenty three thousand eight hundred eighty six) only the loss caused to the complainant owing to accident of the vehicle in question i.e. the sanctioned amount surveyed by the surveyor of o.ps. and are further directed to pay a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees one lakh) only for the financial loss caused to the complainant owing to the accident of the vehicle in question since the said vehicle is only source of income of the complainant and are further directed to pay compensation of Rs.75,000/- (Rupees seventy five thousand) only for harassment and mental agony and litigation cost of Rs.5000/- (Rupees five thousand) only within 45 days from the date of communication of this order, i.d. an interest @ 10% p.a. shall accrue over the entire sum due to the credit of the complainant till full realization. | 
