MANGALORE: In a significant verdict, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Court has directed the United India Insurance Company to settle the claim of the owner of a van which had met with an accident while transporting newspaper bundles to Shimoga.
Earlier, Guruchandra Hegde of Panjimogaru had purchased the van and had availed an insurance policy of Rs 1.8 lakh for the van from the Suratkal branch of United Insurance. On October 12, 2007 the van had met with an accident on Kuntehalla Bridge near Bhadravathi following which he spent Rs 2.3 lakhs towards the repair of the badly mangled vehicle.
However, when he applied for claim, the company rejected the same saying the owner who had availed insurance by mentioning that the vehicle was a tourist vehicle, had applied for claim when the vehicle was used as a goods vehicle. This forced Guruchandra to move the consumer court seeking a compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh along with the court expenses. But the company argued that it could not provide the claim amount as the vehicle was used for transportation of goods.
However the judge who turned down this argument said what was more important was that the vehicle had met with an accident and not what was being transported in the vehicle and directed the company to settle the claim and pay Rs 97,786 to the van owner along with 12 per cent interest from the day of the accident till the day of the settlement of the claim.
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