PONDICHERRY: The Pondicherry State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission directed a general insurance company to settle a customer's claim for a stolen bike as per the estimated value of the vehicle.

The Commission directed the New India Assurance Company to pay the owner the value of the vehicle with 12 per cent interest and the amount he had spent on the case.

Nannuri Venketesan of JIPMER campus moved the Commission after the company had failed to sanction the full insurance, citing depreciation costs.

He had insured his Hero Honda motorbike for Rs. 39,250. The bike was stolen four months after it was purchased. The company, however, sanctioned only Rs. 33,000.

As per the policy guideline, the depreciation is fixed at zero per cent for the first six months after the purchase.

The company contended that the policyholder had filed the case four months after the theft and the claim form was submitted a month later. So, the company started its investigation six months after the theft and the surveyor's final report was submitted 10 months later. The company agreed to pay Rs. 33,000 based on this report.

"Committed error"

When the case was filed in the District Forum, it approved the company's contention. Subsequently, Mr. Venketesan moved the Commission. In its direction, the Commission observed that the District Forum had "committed an error in accepting the investigator's report which was bereft of any particulars or date for fixing the amount."

It contended that the "surveyor's report would not and could not form any basis for fixing the value of the vehicle at Rs. 33,000."

The Commission also ordered that the policyholder was entitled to the insured value of the vehicle, Rs. 39,250.

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