DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, FARIDKOT
Complaint No. : 90 of 2019
Date of Institution: 27.03.2019
Date of Decision : 13.11.2018
Jaswinder Singh Adhar Card No.3836 3027 8941 son of Malkit Singh r/o Fatta Patti, Village Khara Tehsil Kotkapura, District Faridkot.
...Complainant
Versus
- The Oriental Insurance Company Limited, Sona Complex, Miller Ganj, G T Road, Ludhiana, Tehsil and District Ludhiana through Manager.
- Indusland Bank (I.B.) Branch Office, Circular Road, Near Bus Stand, First Floor, Near Girls School, Faridkot. .....OPs
Complaint under Section 12 of the
Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
Quorum: Sh. Ajit Aggarwal, President.
Smt. Param Pal Kaur, Member.
Present: Sh Rajinder Singh Romana, Ld Counsel for complainant,
Sh Deep Chand Goyal, Ld Counsel for OP-1,
Sh Gurpreet Singh Chauhan, Ld Counsel for OP-2.
ORDER
(Ajit Aggarwal, President)
cc no.90 of 2019
Complainant has filed the present complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 against OPs seeking directions to OPs to make payment of insurance claim on account of accident of insured truck of complainant and for further directing OPs to pay compensation for harassment, inconvenience, mental agony besides litigation expenses.
2 Briefly stated, the case of the complainant is that complainant owns a truck bearing registration no. PB-04-V/6866 which was fully insured with OP-1. Complaint has valid permit and valid and effective driving license for his truck. it is submitted that on 25.01.2019, truck of complainant struck with some stray animals and met with an accident during said accident entire truck of complainant caught fire and got burnt. All documents pertaining to his vehicle were also burnt in that fire accident of his truck. Complainant got recorded DDR No.30 dated 25.01.2019 in Police Station Sadar Kotkapura and Fire Report No.3 dated 28.01.2019 was also got recorded by Fire Station, Kotkapura. It is submitted that truck of complainant is 100% damaged in said fire accident. Complainant made several requests to OPs to make payment of insurance claim, but they did not do needful. It is further submitted that truck of complainant was purchased by him with the financial assistance given by OP-2 and due to non passing of claim by OP-1, complainant has to pay interest on loan amount in addition to regular instalments. Repeated requests made by complainant to OPs to make payment of insurance
cc no.90 of 2019
claim, bore no fruit, which amounts to deficiency in service and has caused harassment and mental agony to him. He has prayed for accepting the present complaint alongwith compensation and litigation expenses besides main relief. Hence, the present complaint.
3 The counsel for complainant was heard with regard to admission of the complaint and vide order dated 01.04.2019, complaint was admitted and notice was ordered to be issued to the opposite party.
4 On receipt of the notice, OP-1 filed written statement taking preliminary objections that complaint is premature as answering OP never repudiated the claim of complainant and it is still under process and therefore, present complaint is liable to be dismissed. moreover, vehicle in question is under repair and claim is under process at SVC Ludhiana and thus, it is not maintainable. However, on merits, OP-1 has denied all the allegations of complainant being wrong and incorrect and asserted that vehicle is not totally damaged, rather it is repairable and is being repaired in workshop. It is averred that complainant himself is at fault as he did not submit the requisite documents in time and caused delay in processing the claim and as soon as complainant submitted documents, answering OP started processing the claim and vehicle of complainant is being getting repaired by OP-1. Answering OP would pay the payment of insurance claim as per terms and conditions of the
cc no.90 of 2019
Insurance Policy. Accident took place on 25.01.2019 and he filed the present complaint on 27.03.2019 and did not give sufficient time to answering OP to process the claim. Moreover, interest if any is being paid by complainant that is due to his own negligence as he himself did not provide the requisite documents in time. It is further averred that there is no deficiency in service on the part of Ops and prayed for dismissal of complaint with costs.
5 OP-2 also filed written statement taking preliminary objections that answering OP has no knowledge regarding accident of said truck as complainant did not give any information regarding said fire incident to them. further averred that complainant got financed amount of Rs.23,66,523/- excluding interest charges of Rs.6,46,061/- and agreement value of financed amount is Rs.30,12,584/- and as per account statement dated 30.05.2019, amount of Rs.2,55,229/-is overdue and total amount of Rs.23,48,733/-is still outstanding against complainant, which he is liable to pay. It is further averred that if complainant succeeds in proving his case, then claim may not kindly be passed in his favour, rather direction be given to OP-1 to pay the claim amount to OP-2. On merits, OP-2 has denied all the allegations of complainant being wrong and incorrect and prayed for dismissal of complaint with costs.
6 Parties were given proper opportunities to prove their respective case. The complainant tendered in evidence his
cc no.90 of 2019
affidavit Ex.C-1, and documents Ex C-2 to C-10 and then, closed his evidence.
7 In order to rebut the evidence of the complainant, the Ld Counsel for OP-1 tendered in evidence affidavit of Vikas Kataria Ex R-1 and document Ex R-2 to Ex R-13 and then, closed the same on behalf of OP-1. Ld Counsel for OP-2 tendered in evidence documents Ex R-14 and Ex R-15 and also closed the evidence on behalf of OP-2
8 The ld Counsel for complainant argued that truck of complainant bearing no. PB-04-V/6866 was fully insured with OP-1. On 25.01.2019, it met with an accident and caught fire and it was totally burnt and damaged in said fire. Documents relating to his vehicle were also burnt in that fire accident. He got recorded DDR in Police Station Sadar Kotkapura and Fire Report was also got recorded by Fire Station, Kotkapura. Truck of complainant is 100% damaged in said fire accident. Complainant made several requests to OPs to make payment of insurance claim, but all in vain. Ld counsel for complainant submitted that truck of complainant was purchased by him with the financial assistance of OP-2 and due to non passing of claim by OP-1, complainant has to pay interest on loan amount in addition to regular instalments. Despite submission of all requisite documents, completion of formalities and several repeated requests, OPs have not passed his claim, which
cc no.90 of 2019
amounts to deficiency in service. He has prayed for directing OPs to make payment of insurance claim.
9 To controvert the arguments of ld counsel for complainant, ld counsel for OP-1 argued that complaint is premature as they never repudiated his claim. As per OP-1, claim of complainant is still under process at SVC Ludhiana and vehicle in question is under repair thus, there is no deficiency in service on their part and therefore, present complaint is liable to be dismissed. It is averred that complainant himself is at fault as he did not submit the requisite documents in time and caused delay in processing the claim and as and when he submitted documents, they started processing the same and vehicle of complainant is being getting repaired by OP-1. Payment of insurance claim would be made to complainant as per terms and conditions of the Insurance Policy. Accident took place on 25.01.2019 and he filed the present complaint on 27.03.2019 thereby giving them no time to process the claim. The Ld Counsel for OP-1 argued that during the pendency of present complaint, OP-1 duly processed and approved the claim of complainant for Rs.12,84,173/- and a letter to this effect was written to complainant on 28.08.2019. Copy of the same is Ex R-3. He further argued that said letter received back with OP-1 with remarks of Postal Authorities that person is not available at home and their family members refused to receive the said letter. To this effect, copy of e-mail is Ex R-2. Ld Counsel for OP-1 further argued that as OP-1 has already processed the claim of
cc no.90 of 2019
complainant as per terms and conditions of the policy, as such, present complaint becomes infructuous. It is now, on the part of complainant himself to fulfil the necessary requirements for the payment of claim for which he did not turn up. As the complete engine replaced with new number, as such the complainant was directed to incorporate the new replaced engine number in Registration Certificate of said vehicle through concerned Regional Transport Authority. There is no deficiency in service on the part of OP-1 and prayed for dismissal of complaint.
10 Ld counsel for OP-2 also argued that they have no knowledge regarding accident of said truck as complainant did not give any information regarding said fire incident to them. It is brought before the Forum that complainant got financed amount of Rs.23,66,523/- excluding interest charges of Rs.6,46,061/- and agreement value of financed amount is Rs.30,12,584/- and as per account statement dated 30.05.2019, amount of Rs.2,55,229/-is overdue and total amount of Rs.23,48,733/-is still outstanding against complainant, which complainant is liable to pay. OP-2 prayed that if complainant succeeds in proving his case, then claim amount be passed in their favour and not in the favour of complainant. All the other allegations of complainant are denied being wrong and incorrect and it is prayed that complaint be dismissed with costs.
cc no.90 of 2019
11 We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and have very carefully gone through the affidavits and documents placed on the file by respective parties.
12 From the perusal of documents and in the light of above discussion, it is observed that as per OP-1 they have already settled the claim of complainant and they are ready to settle the claim of Rs.12,84,173/- subject to fulfilment of necessary conditions. complainant is directed to incorporate the new engine number of replaced engine in the registration certificate from RTA concerned. As OP-1 has already settled the claim of complainant subject to fulfilment of necessary condition required for processing the claim, complaint in hand is hereby allowed against OP-1 with direction to them to pay Rs.12,84,173/- with 30 days from the submission of copy of RC after due incorporation of new engine number in the registration certificate of vehicle from RTA concerned by the complainant, failing which complainant shall be entitled to interest at the rate of 9% per anum on this amount from the date of receipt of order. OP-1 is further directed to pay Rs.5,000/-to complainant as consolidated compensation for harassment and mental agony suffered by him as well as for litigation expenses. Complaint against Opposite Party No.-2 stands hereby dismissed as OP-2 has no role to play in making payment of insurance claim. Compliance of this order be made within prescribed period, failing which complainant shall be
cc no.90 of 2019
entitled to proceed under Section 25 and 27 of the Consumer Protection Act. Copy of order be given to parties free of cost. File be consigned to record room.
Announced in Open Forum
Dated : 13.11.2019
(Parampal Kaur) (Ajit Aggarwal)
Member President
