Problem in insurance claim . Help needed.

[Mission_Safari]

My brother-in-law and his friend together bought a santro to run it for a travels. All was well until last August when the driver rammed into a post completely smashing the front of the car (he escaped with very minor injuries).
Just before this incident my brother-in-law went to Delhi for sometime and the car was lying in the garage of HMP chennai. Nothing was done until November when he came back. He got 30k from the travels for the damage during which the travels guys assured that they will take care of the insurance thing but backed out later. So he paid the 30K in HMP who recovered the car back to normal by December first week and total amount was 1.5L.
Now the real problem started when he made the insurance claim which was with United India insurance . Although he had all the documents required for the claim they were trying to put him off everytime saying ' not this form the other form and all crap '. When we checked with HMP and the vehicle surveyor who took the photograph they all confirmed the documents were all ok but they were trying to not pay the claim as the amount was huge.

So there is nothing with the document and now they are not willing to give the claim. What can be done next?

I have suggested him to go the grievance department of united India Insurance ?

I would appreciate if you can throw some suggestions to sort out this issue .

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Send a lawyer notice to the Insurance Co. This will do the necessary magic.

Since the damage claimed is self, you can taken them to consumer court, and the insurance co. knows it. Consumer courts are a bit faster than normal courts.

[esteem_lover]

What is the IDV of your vehicle ? And what was the premium amount you paid last & what is the NCB now ?

[HappyWheels]

threaten them with legal action. some people need a small kick-start to get working!

there is no reason for them to hold back on ur insurance.

[rajivanoj]

Legal action is only option. Insurance companies never give compensation. They would be happy when geting premiums without any question or fuzz. But when they have to pay money for claims, then they show their real colour.

[druva]

all insurance companies are members of IRDA - insurance regulatory authority in India.
Check their website in Welcome to IRDA
Click on the grievance cell

Some additional information - note the point that you should not have court case on the issue.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Manner of lodging complaint

The complaint by an aggrieved person has to be in writing, and addressed to the insurance Ombudsman of the jurisdiction under which the office of the insurer falls. The complaint can also be lodged through the legal heirs of the insured. Before lodging a complaint:

i) the complainant should have made a representation to the insurer named in the complaint and the insurer either should have rejected the complaint or the complainant have not received any reply within a period of one month after the concerned insurer has received his complaint or he is not satisfied with the reply of the insurer.
ii) The complaint is not made later than one year after the insurer had replied.
iii) The same complaint on the subject should not be pending with before any court, consumer forum or arbitrator.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[GTO]

Typical behaviour of an insurance company, when asked to pay out! Here is what I would suggest : Get in touch with the manager at United India first and see if he is able to solve the problem. Use the contacts of the insurance guys from the dealership too. In such a matter, legal recourse should be the last option.

[Mission_Safari]

@GTO

I too believe the same . Getting into legal action might cause indefinite delays in resolving the problem so i will hold on to that as the last resort.

[mithun]

Try the help of Insurance Ombudsman(as last resort).