The Life Insurance Corporation has been directed by a consumer forum here to pay Rs 4 lakh to the widow of a policy holder for rejecting her claim on husband’s death on a “fanciful ground.”
The New Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum ordered the LIC to pay the compensation while condemning its act of rejecting the claim and terming its official, who repudiated the claim, as one of “irresponsible mindset.”
The LIC had rejected the claim on alleged ground of suppression of pre-existing disease, despite having medically examined and cleared the insured before issuing the policy, said the forum.
“The ground of repudiation had been found from the leave application of deceased in his office. In the application, he took leave due to abscess in cheek, a trivial discomfort, as not any disease. This is alleged as suppression of material fact and pre-existing disease,” said the forum presided by Mr C.K. Chaturvedi.
“The rejection on such a fanciful ground is in line with the mindset of irresponsible officials, who think they serve their employer well by harassing consumers. We condemn this act of opposite party (LIC) and holding the LIC guilty of deficiency in service, direct it to pay assured sum of Rs 3 lakh for death of the insured,” the bench said. The order came on a complaint by Gurgaon resident Ms Bimla Devi, who had alleged that the LIC had arbitrarily rejected her claim for assured amount after the death of her husband in March 2005.
The bench directed the LIC to pay her the assured amount of Rs 3 lakh along with Rs 1 lakh as compensation for her harassment for seven years that she underwent due to rejection of her claim.
“To teach a lesson to the (concerned) LIC official, we direct LIC to deduct 50 per cent of the Rs 1 lakh from the salary of the officer who okayed the repudiation,” it added.