Bharti Axa Life Insurance asked to pay Rs 5.87 lakh towards death claim

HYDERABAD: Telangana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered Bharti Axa Life Insurance Company to pay Rs 5,87,303 at an interest rate of 24 percent, towards a death claim. The court has also ordered the firm to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation and another Rs 10,000 towards costs of litigation for allegedly denying the complainant the insurance claim.

The complainant, Tipparna Nooka Raju, a retired government employee, had stated that his wife was an insurance policyholder with a policy term of 12 years. He said that, after his wife expired, he submitted an insurance claim for Rs 5,87,303 to the insurance firm. The claim was however repudiated on the grounds of non-disclosure of pre-existing ailments at the time of the policy. The complainant was also denied the opportunity to file a complaint with the Insurance Ombudsman after the latter upheld the insurance firm's contention. After repeated denials, Nooka Raju invoked the 'pursuance of letter' on the insurance firm, demanding appropriate relief.

The insurance firm, in its contention, said that the policy was already cancelled and was held null and void and that they had also intimated the same in a letter they sent to the complainant. On the question of how the premium for 2020 was accepted by the Insurance Company if the policy stood cancelled in 2019, the company defended itself stating that they had accepted the premium for 2020 as the records of the company were not updated owing to a technical problem.

The court, in its order, stated that the fact that the insurance firm accepted the premium for 2020 from the complainant's wife led to an irresistible conclusion that denying the insurance claim to the complainant was unjustified. The technical problem, as mentioned by the insurance firm, was not considered by the court as there was no substantial evidence to support the claim. The verdict was delivered in favour of the complainant.