Insurance ombudsman does a 100% 'disposal' job

Times of India‎‎‎: Kochi: Sunday, April 24, 2016.

A total of 1,482 complaints by policy holders against insurance companies were disposed by insurance ombudsman in Kochi in the last financial year. There were complaints against both public sector and private sector insurance companies for denying insurance, citing defective reports.

Of the total number of cases disposed, 808 were related to life insurance and the rest, general insurance. Most of the complaints were against private sector companies. Of the total 1,482 complaints, 790 were against private companies and the rest against public sector insurance companies. But in the general insurance sector, most of the complaints were against public sector companies (424).

"We held more sittings compared with earlier years and disposed all complaints. There are no pending complaints now," said P K Vijayakumar, insurance ombudsman.

The ombudsman awarded compensation to the tune of Rs 2.68 crore to complainants.Among the complaints, the ombudsman heard one filed by 159 farmers from Kasaragod, who suffred a crop loss, against the Agriculture Insurance Company Ltd. The company had given a paltry sum of Rs 1,100 per hectare for damaged crops to the farmers, allegedly based on weather data.

But the weather stations were defective and had recorded zero rains even when the area was receiving intense rains. The company used this as a pretext to reduce the compensation.

However, after considering arguments raised by farmers, verifying data from the weather station and visiting the land, the ombudsman directed the insurance company to pay a compensation of between Rs 3,000 and Rs 6,000 per hectare to the farmers.

"The farmers from Kallar village suffered the crop loss in 2013-14. The insurance company had given the paltry amount, based on the data from a nearby weather station. This was found to be defective. I ordered the company to pay a higher compensation based on an RTI report, agriculture officer's version of the event and media reports that appeared on the crop loss," Vijayakumar said.