An East Delhi Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission recently held National Insurance Company liable for deficiency in service and directed it to pay Rs 4.68 lakh to a man for denying his insurance claim for a stolen car because of a delay in filing an FIR and passing information to the insurance company.President Sukhvir Singh Malhotra and Member Ravi Kumar were hearing a complaint filed by a man whose insurance claim for his stolen car was denied because of a delay in filing the FIR and informing the insurance company about the theft.“The law is well settled that mere delay of 4 days in informing the police and mere delay in informing the OP (insurance company) for 7 days does not tantamount to rejection of the claim of the man on account of such delay. Even otherwise, the delay is not much, and in any case, OP cannot decline the claim in toto even if there is some delay in informing the OP. The OP has rejected the claim in toto, which amounts to deficiency on the part of OP,” the September 25 order readThe commission directed the insurance company to pay Rs 4.31 to the man, along with compensation of Rs 25,000 and Rs 12,500 as litigation cost.The man claimed that his car, which was insured by the National Insurance, was stolen on December 26, 2019, from Pratap Vihar in Ghaziabad. As per the man, even though he had approached the nearby police station on the same day and filed a complaint regarding his stolen vehicle, the police station did not convert his complaint into an FIR till December 29, 2019.The man alleged that he then visited the office of the insurance company and narrated the whole incident to them, but the insurance executive refused to accept the FIR and stated that the FIR was the only primary document to prove the criminal act of theft.According to the man, the vehicle could not be traced by the police, who ultimately filed the final report before the concerned court, and the insurance company also denied the man’s claim, and he was forced to file a consumer complaint.Story continues below this adIn its defence, the insurance company argued that there was no deficiency on its part, as no information was given to the insurance company within time, and even the complaint at the police station was also not lodged in time, which was in violation of the terms and conditions of the policy.The insurance company contended that the vehicle was stolen on December 26, 2019; the online information about the theft was given to the Police on December 29, 2019, after which the FIR was registered; and it received the information about the theft on January 2, 2020, which was after a delay of 7 days.TakeawayThe ruling establishes the obligation of insurance companies to ensure proper processing of claims of consumers and that the concerns of the consumers must not be ignored, causing them unnecessary inconvenience. For consumer-related grievances, individuals may contact the consumer helpline in their respective states and union territories or call the National Consumer Helpline on 1915 for assistance.Don’t miss out on these stories:Mediclaim rejected over hospital choice, woman gets Rs 1.73 lakh payoutStory continues below this adRs 26.60 lakh insurance claim rejected after murder, Punjab commission orders LIC to payWoman fitted with Rs 2.45 lakh ‘defective dentures’, dentist ordered to pay Rs 3.15 lakh