Submit accident info to claim insurance

Insurance Company is not liable for any deficiency of service if a policy holder fails to submit the information about the accident, damage and claim in writing, a consumer court has held.

“The oral approach to the insurance company for appointment of the surveyor and to determine the damages to reimburse has no meaning unless the required information of the accident, damage and claim are submitted in writing,” the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (Central) has said. The policy holder, Charanjeet Singh, approached the Forum, seeking insurance claim from New India Assurance Company Limited for his vehicle which suffered damage in an accident.

The Forum dismissed the complaint on the ground that no surveyor could be appointed by the company to assess the insurance claim in the absence of claim form and without having any information of the accident. “Without the information of the accident and damage to the vehicle and in the absence of claim form, the company could not have appointed any surveyor to assess the damages,” the Forum said.

Source: The Times of India (New Delhi, February 12, 2010)