“It is high time the insurance companies gave information with regard to the India Motor Tariff to the insurers regarding automatic transfer of an insurance policy to the new owner (who buys a second-hand vehicle). They are directed not to take undue advantage of the customer’s ignorance as the regulations framed under the India Motor Tariff are binding to all insurance companies.” — State Consumer Disputes Redressal CommissionWith complaints against insurance companies regarding repudiation of claims to owners of second-hand vehicles flooding the consumer forums, the UT State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has made it clear that once a vehicle is transferred to the second owner, the insurance policy stands automatically transferred according to the India Motor Tariff. It is being witnessed that a number of insurance companies are not disclosing the regulation to the customers in the cases of vehicle transfers. The commission has also stated that in case the claim is being repudiated on these grounds, the insurance company is liable to pay punitive damages.The directions to insurance companies come following a judgement pronounced by the commission last week in a case that was transferred to it from the Punjab commission. The case dates back to 2002, when the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum of Nawanshahr had awarded a claim of Rs 50,000 to Harjinder Singh, after his Tata Sumo was damaged in an accident in 1999. The insurance company repudiated the claim on the ground that the policy was in the name of one Om Parkash Batra and not Harjinder, though the registration certificate had been transferred in his name. The commission dismissed the appeal filed by the New India Assurance Company.While issuing the directions with regard to automatic transfer of insurance policies, the commission has relied on a judgment by the national commission last year. The case pertains to the denial of a insurance claim of Rs 1.4 lakh to a Muzaffarpur resident, Narayan Singh. The commission had ruled that it was improper and unjustified on the part of the insurance company to harass the complainants for years together.“Most companies have been fooling the customers by wrongly denying the claim on the pretext that their insurance policy had not been transferred,” said Justice K C Gupta, President, UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
