The Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed an appeal filed by the IFFCO TOKIO GIC to overturn the award passed by the Rupnagar Motor Accident Claims Tribunal of Rs 15.27 lakh. In the said case, Mr Rajwinder Singh while travelling on a two wheeler had met with an accident on account of an oncoming car which was insured by IFFCO Tokio. The family of the deceased thereby lodged a TP claim in the aforementioned claims tribunal.
The insurer however during its investigation had found that the TP vehicle details were missing from the FIR lodged post the accident. Further the eyewitness who had later confirmed to the investigating police of the involvement of TP car was also being suspected by the insurer of colluding with the claimants to get the TP award. This suspicion had arised since the eyewitness had during the course of the investigation got the driver of the offending vehicle released on bail, by standing as his surety.
The court on hearing the insurer's plea conveyed that just raising the finger of suspicion would not be enough to dislodge the claimants . Further the claimants lawyer mentioned that the FIR was registered by parental uncle of deceased who is not an eyewitness and as such the number of the offending vehicle had not been mentioned in the FIR.
The court thereby sustained the award passed by the Tribunal partly which was for a sum of Rs 15,27,000 as compensation and further levied interest on the insurer.
Writer's Note:
Such type of TP claims are on the rise currently and all insurer's are suffering heavy TP losses on account of lack of evidence corroborating such types of frauds. Without sufficient evidence in place a court would also be unable to assist the insurer. The lack of evidence is mostly on account of delay in investigation post OD claim intimation. Furthermore insurer's need to create a collaborative active network through their investigation teams to figure out such TP involvement accidents. With the rising loss ratio's for private car, such steps are critical for ensuring profitability for all insurer's.
Source:
https://www.verdictum.in/court-updates/high-courts/honour-killing-demon-1479192?infinitescroll=1
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