Noida: District consumer commission has ordered ICICI Lombard General Insurance to pay Rs 2.4 lakh towards the repair costs of an insured vehicle to a private company. It awarded Rs 2,000 as compensation, holding the insurer’s refusal to settle the claim to be a deficiency in service.Interprofit Pvt Ltd had filed an application with the commission on Feb 3, 2024, against the insurer. It told the commission that it had purchased ICICI Lombard’s ‘Private Car Package Policy’ for the company’s Toyota Fortuner on July 7, the previous year. It had paid a premium of Rs 62,619. The policy covered claims arising from accidents, theft, third-party liability, personal accident coverage for the owner/driver, disasters, and self-inflicted damage.On July 15 that year, the car had been damaged in a natural calamity and employees of Interprofit had taken it to Inwheels Automobiles for repairs. They had also filed an insurance claim. The insurer then sent an Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority-approved surveyor, Saurabh Juneja, to verify the claim. He found the claim to be genuine and sent an email to Inwheels Automobiles to go ahead with the repairs. The company had also been marked in the email.When the email was forwarded to the insurer, ICICI Lombard told the repair workshop to stop work, following which Interprofit got the vehicle repaired at its own expense. It described the insurer’s action as a deficiency in service and sought relief from the commission.Notices were served on the insurance company. In response, it filed a counterclaim refuting the claims. The counsel for ICICI Lombard said that Interprofit had taken its insured vehicle to a repair shop but had failed to file a report at a police station. Moreover, Juneja in his final report had noted that the company had previously bought an insurance policy from National Insurance Company Limited for the same car and had availed the benefit of 35% No Claim Bonus (NCB) on that previous policy. “It was found that the complainant had submitted false information to the commission,” the defence counsel said.Commission president Anil Kumar Pundir and member Anju Sharma said the insurer did not produce any evidence to prove that the company had taken any advantage of the previous insurance policy and hence found Interprofit’s claims to be admissible. They disposed of the matter on Aug 10 and said ICICI Lombard should pay interest calculated at 6% PA on the total amount from the date of filing of the complaint in Feb 2024 till the date the final payment is made to Interprofit.
