Absence of postmortem report no ground for rejecting claim'

Absence of postmortem report no ground for rejecting claim'

Press Trust Of India
New Delhi, June 06, 2010

First Published: 10:48 IST(6/6/2010)
Last Updated: 10:51 IST(6/6/2010)

 An insurance company cannot reject a claim on the ground of absence of policyholder's postmortem report, a consumer court has said. "In the absence of the postmortem report, the (personal accident insurance) claim could not have been repudiated," the Delhi District Consumer Forum, Central has said.

The Forum passed the order on a petition of the wife of a policy holder, who died in a train accident, seeking directions to the National Insurance Company to pay the claim along with compensation for causing harassment.

It noted that the insurance company did not look into the documents provided by Kamlesh, the wife of the deceased, but merely insisted upon the postmortem report.

"The documents placed on the file, were sufficient for the insurance company to believe the case of Kamlesh that her husband died in a train accident.

Therefore, non-passing of the claim so far, is deficiency in service. It has caused not only the financial losses but also harassment and mental agony to the widow of the assured," the forum bench, comprising president B B Chaudhary and member S R Agrawal, said.

The forum directed the insurance company to pay accidental insurance amount of Rs two lakh along with compensation of Rs 15,000 to the widow.

Ashok Kumar Srivastava, the policy holder died in 2004 after he fell from the train. The claim was repudiated by the company as his postmortem report was not submitted.