Insurance company told to pay Rs 5 lakh

Fatehgarh Sahib, October 16
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed the Life Insurance Corporation zonal office to pay Rs 5 lakh to the complainant along with Rs 5,000 as costs of litigation.
The forum comprising Sashi Prabha Aggarwal, president, Sher Singh Sidhu and Veena Chahal, members, stated that complainant Pawan Kumar, a resident of Manela village, had got his minor son Udesh insured with the LIC on August 4, 2010, vide policy number 153840846 for a sum of Rs 5 lakh and deposited Rs 15,494/ vide receipt number 2107482 dated August 4, 2010, as per terms and conditions, the amount was to be realised either on the date of maturity of the policy or on the death of the person insured, which ever occurred earlier. Unfortunately, the son of the complainant died on August 7, 2010, and the complainant requested the LIC to release the amount, but they kept putting off the matter.
The LIC in its reply stated that the policy was issued under table 75 to 20. The date of issuance was August 4, 2010, and date of maturity was August 4, 2030. The policy holder was minor. The LIC said on August 6,2010, his father gave an application that the terms and conditions were not acceptable, so the policy was cancelled and premium was refunded through cheque number 119118 dated August 30, 2010, as such the policy had been cancelled.
The court said the documents placed on record showed that the opposite party had written the letter to cancel the policy instead of giving the claim to the complainant. “The affidavit of the complainant shows that he has not written the letter and he has not received the premium from the opposite party. It shows deficiency in service on the part of opposite party as the complainant has purchased the policy on August 4, 2010, and his son expired on August 7, 2010, therefore the LIC is liable to pay the policy amount of Rs 5 lakh to the complainant,” the forum observed.