The Chandigarh District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered an insurer and bank to pay Rs 60 lakh to the widow of a policeman, clarifying that casual medical notes and suspicion are insufficient grounds for claim denial in accident cases.
The Chandigarh District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered an insurer and a bank to pay Rs 60 lakh to the widow of a Chandigarh police head constable after finding that a hospital note referring to a history of alcohol consumption was not enough to prove he had been drunk when a fatal road accident occurred on July 2, 2022.
In its September 22 order, the bench of president Pawanjit Singh and member Mohan Sharma also awarded Rs 20,000 for mental agony, harassment and litigation costs. The commission said the insurer had no solid basis to reject the accidental death claim and that doing so amounted to deficiency in service and an unfair trade practice.
The dispute turned on whether the deceased was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. According to the commission, the insurer relied on a hospital record that mentioned a history of drinking, but that entry did not establish intoxication at the scene or show that alcohol caused the accident. The widow had approached the consumer forum after the claim was repudiated.
The ruling fits a broader pattern in Chandigarh consumer cases in which insurers have been told that suspicion or casual medical notations are not enough to deny claims. In earlier matters, the city’s consumer forums have said that the smell of alcohol, or a brief note in medical papers, does not by itself prove a claimant was intoxicated, and insurers must produce concrete evidence before refusing payment.
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