THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The district consumer commission has ordered an insurance company to pay Rs 1 lakh for a damaged TV. The United India Insurance Company was also asked to pay Rs 25,000 compensation and Rs 3,000 as legal costs to the complainant.
The order came on a petition filed by Thiruvananthapuram native Francis Jacob Tharakan. The commission bench comprising president P V Jayarajan and members Preetha G Nair and Viju V R heard the petition. The complainant was represented by advocates Sreevaraham N G Mahesh and Sheeba Sivadasan.
Tharakan, who had bought a Sony Bravia LCDtelevision from Qatar in December 2006, brought it to his home in Thiruvananthapuram in March 2009. In August 2011, he took a householder’s insurance policy from the company, with a Rs 2 lakh coverage for the TV. The policy was renewed every year till 2015.
In October 2015, the TV developed faults and the service centre said it was not worth repairing, following which Tharakan filed a claim in December 2015. Though the insurance company accepted it as a total loss, it offered only Rs 38,000, saying that its surveyor assessed the TV’s present market value as Rs 80,000 and cut 50% as depreciation, with another Rs 2,000 deducted as excess. However, Tharakan refused to accept the amount.
He pointed out that the policy allows depreciation of 10% a year in case of total loss, but the maximum depreciation cannot be more than 50% of the sum insured. He argued that he was eligible to get at least Rs 1 lakh. The insurer responded that it had paid as per the surveyor’s report and the policy terms.
However, the commission observed that the surveyor simply assumed the TV was worth Rs 80,000 without any basis, such as a quotation or invoice, and had used the wrong clause. Citing a Supreme Court ruling, the commission noted that a surveyor’s report is not final or binding. It found the company guilty of deficiency in service and unfair trade practice and ordered it to pay the damages to the complainant