INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS Vs. ORIENTAL INSURANCE CO. LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present First Appeal has been filed against the order dtd. 18/9/2014 passed by Chhattisgarh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Pandri, Raipur (in short 'State Commission') in Complaint Case No. 12/10.

(2.) The case of the Complainant is that it had taken Shopkeeper Policy No.152402/48/2009/1241 for sum insured Rs. 30,00,000.00 from the Opposite Party by paying a premium of Rs. 9,741.00. The Policy was valid from 26/2/2009 to 25/2/2010. The Complainant had taken Credit from State Bank of India, Collectorate Branch, Ambikapur of Rs. 12,00,000.00 and Sarguja Kshetriya Gramin Bank (SKGB), Ambikapur of Rs. 2,50,000.00. On 30/3/2009, after carefully locking the shop at 09:00 pm, the Complainant went home. 31/3/2009 was weekly off, but due to some urgent work and for collecting few documents from the shop, the Complainant came to the shop at about 11:30 am. The Complainant found that the shop had caught fire. The neighbours of the Complainant tried to extinguish fire to the help of the water. The matter was intimated to the Fire Brigade of Municipal Corporation, Ambikapur. After 15 minutes, the Fire Brigade came to the shop and extinguished the fire. The Fire Brigade team also broke the door of the last room which was sealed and opened into the corridor. It took about one hour to control the fire and by that time rear room contents were gutted in fire. The Certificate regarding the same was issued by the Municipal Corporation, Ambikapur.

(3.) The Complainant immediately informed the incident to the Police Station, Ambikapur. The intimation of the incident was also given to the Insurance Company and the Insurance Company appointed Spot Surveyor Shri A. P. Singh, who inspected and took the photographs. He submitted a preliminary report. The Complainant submitted the claim alongwith the documents demanded by the Opposite Party. The Opposite Party appointed Shri S.K. Kesharwani, Surveyor for Final Survey and Shri Anup Mehta as investigator. The Complainant also provided the documents to the Surveyor and Investigator, in which the Complainant mentioned that he had suffered loss of Rs. 28,88,236.00. According to the Complainant, the Opposite Party kept on harassing the Complainant by repeatedly demanding the documents. Shri S.K. Kesharwani, Surveyor and Loss assessor assessed the loss at Rs. 1,63,000.00. On 10/5/2010, the Complainant sent a letter to the Opposite Party requesting them to pay the actual loss. The Opposite Party reopened the case of the Complainant. On 27/11/2010, the Opposite Party sent a voucher of Rs. 4,00,000.00 to the Complainant to sign and send it back. The Complainant signed the Voucher and accepted the amount under protest and sent it back to the Opposite Party. On 29/11/2010, the Opposite Party replied that because the Complainant had signed the voucher under protest, it was not possible for them to pay the amount. Alleging deficiency in service on the part of the Opposite Party, the Complainant filed Consumer Complaint No.10/2012 before the State Commission, Chhattisgarh with the following prayer:-