Page 53 - Insurance Times April 2024

Ë°¼¿¬»

Can't expect every accident to have wit- the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC),
which was valid from October 1, 2004, to September 30,
ness: HC 2006.

To expect an eyewitness to be present in every accident The policy included coverage against the risk of non-pay-
case is "far from reality", the Dharwad bench of the
Karnataka high court has observed, while dismissing the ment for any export shipment, loss due to delay caused by
appeal filed by an insurance company. commercial or political risk, protection against other unpre-
dictable losses, and insolvency or liquidation of the buyer.
Younus and Shabbir Ahmed, who run pan stalls, had claimed The terms of the policy required that the shipments made
compensation on the ground that on August 27, 2013, a during each calendar month would have to be intimated
luggage vehicle had hit them near Mishrikoti Kadankoppa through a declaration made by the 15th day of the follow-
in Hubballi taluk, while they were proceeding along the ing month.
Karwar-Hubballi road.
Chandak Brothers (the insured) was sanctioned a limit of
They were awarded Rs 77,350 and nearly Rs 1.2 lakh in
Rs. 25 lakh, against which it made an export of goods to
compensation, respectively, by the Motor Accident Claims Famplan Ltd. In the United Kingdom. The latter acknowl-
Tribunal, Hubballi, on August 30, 2017.
edged the receipt of the goods and issued a bill of exchange
Shriram General Insurance, the insurer of the vehicle, ap- on September 6, 2006, promising to make payment. Sub-
pealed against the order in the high court, claiming the sequently, on September 28, 2006, the NatWest Bank of
vehicle was falsely implicated in the case and that there Birmingham failed to honour the bill of exchange. The in-
were no eyewitnesses to support the occurrence of the sured then lodged an insurance claim.
accident itself.
ECGC repudiated the claim on the ground that the approval
After perusing the material on record, Justice V for business dealing with Famplan was obtained without
Shrishananda said the tribunal had taken into consideration
disclosing the full and correct address and that the decla-
the police records which sufficiently indicated the involve- ration of sale was not made within the stipulated period of
ment of offending vehicle. The judge also said vehicle driver 15 days. Further, the importer, Famplan, denied having
Suresh had also been charge sheeted for the offence of placed any order or that any money was due and payable
negligent driving.
by it, just as its two sister concerns Sovereign Hardware and
"If the accident takes place in a busy area or in an urban Wetherall Group PLC had previously defaulted in making
area, it is easy to secure eyewitness to the incident. But payment. The insured was also blamed for neither having
when the accident has occurred in the rural area or a road protested nor having initiated any action for non-payment
which was not that busy, then procuring an eyewitness is a of the bills of exchange.
difficult task for more than one reason... Under such cir-
cumstances, expecting an eyewitness to be present in each Aggrieved by the repudiation of its claim, the insured filed
and every case is far from reality," Justice Shrishananda said. a consumer complaint before the Delhi State Commission,
against ECGC as well as the overseas importer. After con-
Claim not payable for questionable sidering the rival contentions, the State Commission held
ECGC as well as Famplan jointly and severally liable to pay
deals Rs. 23,24,850. Additionally, interest at 9 per cent per an-
The firm obtained a comprehensive insurance policy from num was also awarded.

48 April 2024 The Insurance Times