KOCHI: The insurance ombudsman here recently found itself handling a peculiar case -- something it had not dealt with in its nearly two decade-long existence. The owner of an elephant approached the insurance disputes settlement body with a complaint that a public sector non-life insurance company had refused claims for `5 lakh compensation after the elephant died though the owner held an ‘elephant insurance policy’.The insurer repudiated the claim on the ground that complainant Athira Rao of Kollam failed to establish the ownership of the elephant, Devidasan aka Gangaprasad, which died in December 2018.
“It was an interesting case. When we probed the matter we found out that though as per the policy document the person who had bought the insurance was indeed Athira Rao. But according to the mahasar report and necropsy report, the owner of the elephant was one M M Hassan Rawther,” said Poonam Bodra, ombudusman at the Office of the Insurance Ombudsman for Kerala and Lakshadweep. Making the case even more strange, the officials found that as per the data book of captive elephants, the ownership was vested with one A K Sanal Kumar. Curiously, it did not end there either. As per the certificate of implantation of microchip, the ombudsman found that the ownership of the elephant was with Mohanan.
“The complainant submitted that she was the owner of the elephant as she had purchased the tusker from A K Sanal Kumar in 2017,” said Bodra.
Therein lay Athira’s problem. The central government had strictly banned the sale of captive elephants under the Wildlife Protection Act. The investigating officer found that though the complainant had acquired ownership of the elephant in 2017, the ownership was not transferred to her name due to the central government rule.
“One Mohanan residing at Kollam possessed the elephant from Hassan Rawther and implanted the microchip. He sold the elephant to Sanal Kumar who had gifted it to Athira in August 2017. “Hence based on the documents submitted by Athira Rao and the investigation, the respondent insurer confirmed that the insured Athira Rao was the custodian of the elephant at the time of its death,” the order by the ombudsman said while ordering the PSU non-life insurer to settle the claim by paying `5 lakh to the complainant.Bodra said in most complaints the ombudsman settles the case within one or two sittings. In this case, it lasted for over six months and helped the woman.
In context
The owner of an elephant approached the insurance disputes settlement body claiming that a public sector non-life insurance company had refused claims for C5 lakh compensation after the animal died despite the fact that she held a valid ‘elephant insurance policy
The insurance company turned down the claim on the ground that complainant Athira Rao hailing from Kollam district had failed to establish the ownership of the elephant, Devidasan aka Gangaprasad, which died in December 2018