Insurance company rejected Singh's insurance claim due expired DL and had to pay compensation of Rs 4 lakh

Uttarakhand State Consumer Commission has ordered Shriram General Insurance Company Limited to pay Rs 4 lakh in compensation to car owner Harvinder Singh. The company rejected Singh's insurance claim because the driver's license had expired at the time of the accident.

The incident occurred on April 8, 2017, when Singh's car fell into a ditch due to the collapse of a security wall on Pavki Devi Road near Rishikesh. Driver Jagdish Chauhan died in this accident. The insurance policy was taken out in May 2016 and was valid at the time of the accident. However, the insurance company denied the claim, stating that the driver's license had expired on March 23, 2017.

Harvinder Singh filed a complaint with the District Consumer Commission. In October 2022, the commission ruled in his favor. The insurance company appealed to the State Consumer Commission, but the decision also went in favor of Singh.

Singh's lawyer argued that, according to the Motor Vehicles Act, there is a grace period of 30 days for renewing a driver's license, and the accident occurred within this period. The commission acknowledged that if the driver had been alive, he would have certainly gotten the license renewed.

The State Commission upheld the District Commission's decision but reduced the compensation amount from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 4 lakh. Additionally, the insurance company will also have to pay 9% annual interest from the date of filing the complaint (2017) and Rs 5,000 for litigation expenses.