THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC) on Friday said that unexpected ailments should be deemed as accidents and must be made eligible for compensation by insurance companies.
The commission was commenting on an incident when a fisherman suffered a heart attack off the coast of Poonthura here and was denied the insurance amount by The New India Assurance Company.
Commission chairman J B Koshy asked the insurance company to reexamine its decision to deny compensation to the fisherman saying that an ailment cannot be considered an accident.
“Denying compensation after receiving premium is a violation of human rights,” he said. Hridayadasan, a fisherman from Poonthura, had suffered the stroke on June 2, 2013 and has been immobile since then. Though he had received Rs 50,000 from the Kerala Chief Minister’s disaster relief fund, the commission said it was insufficient for his treatment expenses.
Hridayadasan has been paying the premium for his insurance policy for seven years. Koshy pointed out that Karnataka and Orissa High Courts had earlier ruled that unexpected ailments should be considered accidents and compensations had to be paid.
“The insurance company must take up the responsibility and act accordingly,” the Commission noted and asked the company to respond to the Commission before June 10.