[agyash2]

Hello All,


Hope you all are doing well. This is my very first post on this constructive forum. I am a novice in the car world, and I need the help of all you virtuoso of this world.

After much deliberation, my family finally purchased a new car after nine beautiful years of using Hyundai i10. We bought Verna SX(O) Petrol for our use. An adorable and well-built car.

But our happiness with the Verna was short-lived as it met with an accident just ten days after we brought it down from the showroom. It was our driver who was driving the car, and my brother was in it. Luckily no one was injured as the car had airbags at all sides. But the car got damaged badly.

The accident happened on the highway in the night. We got it towed to the showroom the same day our car got damaged. The estimate came out to be around six lakhs! But we had bumper-to-bumper insurance, so we thought we had it all covered. But little did we knew that we had such a "good" insurance company which instead of helping us would make our life more worrisome. This company is Liberty General Insurance Company. I would suggest to you all, never take their service.

The insurance company informally told us, and they are not ready to give us any proof of it, that they will not honour our claim. The reason that they are offering is that they could not establish that it was our driver who was driving the car.

We submitted the company every proof and document that they wanted still they were not convinced. Even the FIR is in the name of our driver. The company says that they don't believe in what's written in the FIR. Their only issue is that the other person's FIR car mentions my brother's name as the driver (a classic example of following rules as per your convenience). And this is because as soon as the other car hit our car, the driver of that car ran away and came back after 30 mins. Till that time only my brother was standing near the car, and hence other car's driver thought that my brother was driving the car. Though in the updated FIR of that other driver, police have verified that it was our driver who was driving. But the company is again "informally" telling us that we manipulated the report. We mailed them umpteenth time for any formal reply regarding the claim, but it all went in vain. They didn't reply to us even once. We also tried to send them a legal notice via a lawyer, but they didn't respond to that as well.

It has been over five months since my new car met with the accident. The company does not reply to any of our mail or written post. Hence I need suggestions from you all as to what can be done now.




TIA!

[ghodlur]

Sorry to hear about your bitter experience with the accident and the Insurance co. Its strange that the Insurance co doesn't believe the FIR from police. So to go about
1) Write to IRDAI about your grievance on their website, take the reference no.
2) Write to Liberty Insurance giving them the IRDAI reference no.
3) Engage a good lawyer who can fight your case.
4) File a case with Consumer Forum.

You will have to fight it out with the Insurance co, there's no way out of this. It will drain your time, energy and funds but if you can do it, I am sure the ruling will be on your side.

[dhanushs]

Really sorry to hear your ordeal. Two things:

• What does the insurance surveyor say? They don't work for a particular insurance company. Most of the insurance settlements are approved by them. So, just make sure its not the surveyor who is throwing a wrench in the process.
  
• If its indeed the company and not the surveyor, please try and write/contact the insurance ombudsman before you take the matter to courts.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by agyash2

This company is Liberty General Insurance Company. I would suggest to you all, never take their service.

You should upload a few documents here, copy of the policy and their rejection letter, perhaps blanking the personal details and requests mods to change the thread that shows the name of the Company.

Nothing beats the power of social media these days, send complaints to Liberty HQ via tweeter and also to their Indian partners. Some times, it pays by naming and shaming.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by agyash2

It has been over five months since my new car met with the accident. The company does not reply to any of our mail or written post. Hence I need suggestions from you all as to what can be done now.

IRDA has published a list of Insurance Ombudsmen here - http://www.policyholder.gov.in/Ombudsman.aspx

Ombudsmen in the world of banking & insurance in India can get the concerned financial institute's knees shaking in fear, if the ombudsman deems that the consumer is correct. That'll be a good starting point for you.

Step 2 would be consumer court, but let's leave that for later.

OT: Liberty Mutual insurance company of the US, one of their leading companies, had entered India with 49% stake in a JV with Videocon. This is their Indian entity.

[MDED]

IMHO, you need to quickly "name" and "shame" this company on their all social media handles. Now, the procedure for getting your complaint resolved is as follows:

1. Approach the grievance cell of the insurance company. For Liberty Videocon GI Co. Ltd. you should contact Shri Jayesh Sampat, Country Head Operations at GRO@libertyvideocon.com (these details are taken from IRDA website) You can check with the company for updated details of the concerned officer.
2. If you are not happy with the resolution provided by them, then you can escalate the matter to IRDAI.
3. The insurance company has to resolve your issue within a fortnight, failing which you can approach the Grievance Redressal Cell of the Consumer Affairs Department of IRDAI.

More details can be seen here http://www.policyholder.gov.in/report.aspx# .

The fight may be long considering the fact that, Videocon as a company has defaulted to all the secured creditors (read Public Sector Banks) and they are the Indian JV partners of Liberty Insurance.

Keep fighting!

[SR-71]

Pardon if am not right any stating any of this, but it really does not matter who was driving the car as long as the person is legally entitled to drive the car. The insurance provider can reject your claim only if the person does not have a valid driving license or was drunk. The onus is on the insurance provider to prove that you are lying about who was driving the car. They just cannot act on their whims and fantasies. They cannot outright claim that the FIR as manipulated. Ask them to give it in writing, I doubt they will !

[Scarlet_Rider]

Will pgportal be helpful in such cases?

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...me-you-do.html (Heard of pgportal.gov.in? About time you do)

[jayakumarkp]

Originally Posted by agyash2

The insurance company informally told us, and they are not ready to give us any proof of it, that they will not honour our claim. The reason that they are offering is that they could not establish that it was our driver who was driving the car.

Really sorry to hear about your situation.
Why would the claim be invalid if it was your brother who drove instead of your driver?

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by SR-71

Pardon if am not right any stating any of this, but it really does not matter who was driving the car as long as the person is legally entitled to drive the car !

No you are 100% correct. In the Indian automotive insurance market, the insurance policy is for the automobile and covers any legally compliant driver driving it; only in the American insurance market, the policy is for the driver and covers any vehicle that he/she drives.

I wonder if Liberty was stupid enough to let an American design their processes and training manuals. That's highly unlikely since IRDA wouldn't have given them a license to be in the Indian market otherwise, but their poor judgment in this claim makes me think they don't understand how things work in our market.

[agyash2]

I had a conversation with the company today. They have sent me some document which I am yet to receive. I will update it here as and when I receive the doc.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

3) Engage a good lawyer who can fight your case.
4) File a case with Consumer Forum.

I have hired a lawyer, and we are planning to take the insurance company to the court. My lawyer is suggesting that we should start the repair work of my vehicle as the case resolution might take some time. Should we wait for settlement in the court or start the work ASAP?

Originally Posted by locusjag

IRDA has published a list of Insurance Ombudsmen here - http://www.policyholder.gov.in/Ombudsman.aspx

Ombudsmen in the world of banking & insurance in India can get the concerned financial institute's knees shaking in fear if the ombudsman deems that the consumer is correct. That'll be a good starting point for you.

They are just levelling allegations against us without any proof. Will Ombudsmen work in this kind of conflict?

Originally Posted by SR-71

The insurance provider can reject your claim only if the person does not have a valid driving license or was drunk. The onus is on the insurance provider to prove that you are lying about who was driving the car. They just cannot act on their whims and fantasies. They cannot outright claim that the FIR as manipulated. Ask them to give it in writing, I doubt they will !

Originally Posted by jayakumarkp

Really sorry to hear about your situation.
Why would the claim be invalid if it was your brother who drove instead of your driver?

My brother doesn't have a driving license. His name was in the initial FIR (of the other driver), and they are using this to frame him. The court challan of both the parties has our driver's name. Clearly, the company is using the evidence as per their convinence.

[ninjatalli]

So is there any proof of the driver driving the car that you have been able to provide? Having a driver around would ideally mean that, but since that seems to be the core point of argument (given your brother doesn't have a DL), I wonder what's the situation now from a legality standpoint.

Edit: Just read the FIR states the driver was driving. That should do

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by agyash2

They are just levelling allegations against us without any proof. Will Ombudsmen work in this kind of conflict?

When companies get involved in misconduct of this kind is when Ombudsmen typically work best. Think of ombudsmen as an inexpensive, quick-fix with authority to settle conflicts before even setting foot in a court of law.

Ombudsmen have even been set up by established corporates like GE to better handle employee harassment cases internally with disciplinary action before someone takes the company to court and the media has a field day with such cases...the analogy here isn't perfect - the IRDA's intent here is to save consumers the legal hassle of taking insurers to court. The point I'm trying to make is that please do consider this option first. Just reach out to an ombudsman nearest to you from that URL i'd shared. No harm in trying!

[charanreddy]

Agree with what's been said here. First escalate this matter to IRDA and banking ombudsman. Clearly mark all the evidences inyour favor to these emails. Copy your advocate, also senior management from the insurer on this email.

Please highlight to them that FIR is only a first information report and the final report , also called challan clearly is the deciding document on the matter of who is the driver. If they are claiming that you have altered or managed the document, send them a legal notice claiming defamation with out Any proof. Get ready for a long drawn battle. Mostly in insurance cases lawyers work on a % basis though per advocates act it is not strictly legal and hence you could save some lawyer fee upfront.

It's for you to fight it out for a quick resolution as the insurer is ok letting the matter wait or slide. Make enough noise, use twitter and other social media. U need to stay persistent for those folks to act.

[VJ05]

Videocon group is in Insolvency and in NCLT currently. I don't know how it has effected this insurance JV with Liberty but may be something to ponder for the future customers of Liberty General Insurance Co.