Court orders insurance company to pay Rs 2 lakh to Ghaziabad woman after it rejected her stolen car claim 10 years ago

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed National Insurance Company Limited to pay 75% of the insured value, Rs 2 lakh, to an Indirapuram woman after her car, bought for rental income, was stolen in 2015. The commission also asked the company to pay Rs 5,000 as compensation for mental agony and litigation costs within 45 days, failing which interest at 6% on the total due amount will be charged, a TOI report stated.

Claim for stolen car

Meena Devi filed her complaint on April 18, 2017, stating that she had purchased an insurance policy from National Insurance on December 2, 2014, to cover loss and damage to her car, valid for one year. She said, "The car met with an accident on Jan 13, 2015, and I claimed reimbursement for the repair. The claim was honoured by the company, and Rs 95,000 were reimbursed, but the company officials made me sign some blank documents and stamp paper under the pretext of record-keeping. Later, when my car was stolen on Oct 21, 2015, the insurance company refused to make any payment saying the policy was closed."

Insurance company’s response

The company argued that it was justified in rejecting the claim, stating that the policyholder had submitted an undertaking on January 13, 2015, agreeing to close the policy after the accident claim. "The undertaking was vetted by the notary, so it is wrong to say that we took blank documents from the policyholder and used them as per our choice," the counsel added.


The commission, led by president Praveen Kumar Jain and members Shailja Sachan and RP Singh, noted a discrepancy in dates. The undertaking was signed on January 21, 2015, while the stamp paper on record was purchased on January 24, 2015. "It is hard to believe that the policyholder applied for cancellation of the policy," the commission observed.