Page 49 - Insurance Times November 2021

Court: Smoker can't be denied mediclaim Accident Claims Tribunal (MACTs). The bench has entrusted
additional solicitor general Jayant Sud with the task of
for lung cancer analysing the difficulties, devising innovative solutions in co-

A consumer court here has ordered an insurance company ordination/consultation with the states and appraising the
to reimburse the expenditure on medical treatment for court for issuance of directions for all-India implementation.
lung cancer after the company refused mediclaim on the
grounds that the patient was a chain smoker and con- During a hearing on the issue recently, Justice Kaul-led
tracted cancer due to his smoking. bench said, "The vehicles of the State Transport Corpora-
The consumer court said there was no proof that the can- tions are not insured because of exemption provided and,
cer had been caused by the patient's smoking habit. as a result thereof, compensation is not paid for long pe-
The case involved one Alok Kumar Banerjee from Thaltej, riod of time as most of these corporations are running in
who underwent treatment for adenocarcinoma of the lung losses".
from Vedanta Institute of Medical Science in July 2014 and
incurred a medical bill of Rs 93,297. He had medical insur- Owner, insurance firm told to pay
ance cover. But his claim was rejected by the insurer.
Rs.1.03 crore
After Banerjee passed away, his widow Smita sued the in- The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal has directed the owner
surer in 2016 in the Consumer Dispute Redressal Commis- of a car and an insurance firm to pay Rs.1.03 crore to fam-
sion, Ahmedabad (additional), where the insurance com- ily members of a Havildar of the Indian Army, who was
pany took the defence that Banerjee was treated in differ- killed in a road accident involving the same vehicle.
ent hospitals for his illness, which had a direct nexus with
his smoking habit, and that this was reflected in his case The Tribunal has directed the car owner and insurer to pay
papers. the amount within three months of the announcement of
the decision.
The consumer commission did not agree. It cited a higher
forum's order and said that a discharge summary itself can- Failing to do so, they would be liable to pay 7.5 per cent
not be treated as primary or conclusive evidence in the interest per annum from the date of filing of complaint by
absence of any independent proof. the victim's family till the amount is realised.
The complaint was filed by deceased's wife, parents and
SC questions insurance waiver to state two minor sons against owner of the Swift Car Harbhajan
Singh and the National Insurance Company with which the
buses vehicle was insured.
The Supreme Court has asked the Union government to
consider withdrawing the exemption from insurance to 1.5 Advocate Swarndeep Singh, legal counsel for the complain-
lakh buses owned by state road transport corporations ant, said Amarjit Singh (29) working with the Army had died
(SRTCs), steeped in heavy losses, as it found victims and in a hit and run case while he was jogging near his home
injured in accidents involving these buses are made to wait during his holidays. He added that the driver of the car had
for years to get compensation from government-run cor- fled from the place but the registration plate had fallen at
porations. the place from which the vehicle was tracked.

This was one of the major issues before a bench of Justices He said brother-in-law of the deceased was also with him
Sanjay K Kaul and Justice Hrishikesh Roy, which for the last when the accident had occurred. He added that the tribu-
six months is engaged in streamlining the process for speedy nal has directed the opposite party to deposit the amount
disbursal of compensation to victims or injured by the Motor with it in three months.

AM Best reaffirms credit ratings of General Insurance Corporation of India
AM Best (US-based credit rating agency) has re-affirmed the ratings assigned to General Insurance Corporation of
India Limited (GIC Re) and further revised the outlook of Long-Term issuer Rating. The company said in a filing said
that A M Best has reaffirmed the Financial Strength Rating at B++ (Good); Stable. The long-term issuer credit rating
is bbb+ (Good) with the outlook revised to Stable from Negative.

The Insurance Times, November 2021 49