Bank held responsible for lapse of mediclaim policy

PUNE: The district consumer court has directed the Bank of India’s FC Road branch to pay Rs 36,967 along with an annual interest of 9% since April 2016, and Rs 3,000 in cost, to a Model Colony resident for deficient service.
Sanjay Manohar Kshirsagar had alleged in a complaint in April last year that the bank failed to pay the premium for his mediclaim policy under the Bank of India National Swasthya Bima Yojana despite authorizing it to pay the same to the insurer every year for policy renewal.
Non-payment of premium led to the lapse of his policy, and he had to spend Rs36,967 for the hospitalization and treatment of his wife, he said.
The bank claimed that the insurer did not sent a renewal notice and the complainant did not give any instructions that he intended to continue the policy.
The consumer court bench of V P Utpat and Kshitija Kulkarni observed, “It is surprising that the opposite party (bank) is stating that it was authorized to debit the premium only and not to re new the policy. It is significant to note that if the premium amount would have been debited at the relevant time, the policy must have been renewed automatically.”
“It further reveals from the record produced by the bank itself that the premium was debited from the complai nant’s account continuously for a period of seven years. The bank has not produced on re cord any record to show that the complainant had submitted any other proposal form for the rene wal of policy every year . This indicates that there is gross negligence on the part of the bank, which resulted in lapsation of mediclaim policy and the complainant was required to bear the medical expenses,” the bench said.
The bench added, “The forum is of the opinion that the complainant has established deficiency in service at the instance of the bank and he is entitled for reimbursement of medical expenses with interest and costs.” The interest component so far works out to Rs4,991, and will continue to grow till actual payment by the bank.

source:timesofindia