Death by mosquito bite not an accident, says SC
On Insurance Claim By Kin Of Man Who Died In Mozambique
New Delhi: 27.03.2019
Death due to malaria in Mozambique, which accounts for 5% of cases of malaria globally, cannot be considered an accident, the Supreme Court held on Tuesday while deciding on a case related to insurance payout.
Dealing with a question whether death due to mosquito bite in Mozambique constitutes an accident, a bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta said: “The claim under the policy is founded on the hypothesis that there is an element of uncertainty about whether or when a person would be the victim of a mosquito bite which is a carrier of a vector-borne disease.”
It said: “The submission is that being bitten by a mosquito is an unforeseen eventuality and should be regarded as an accident. We do not agree with this submission.”
The court delivered its judgment on an appeal filed by National Insurance Co Ltd challenging the verdict of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) which had ordered payment of the insurance claim to the family members of the person who had died of malaria in Mozambique.
The deceased had taken a home loan from a bank here in 2011 and got that loan insured from the firm which was obliged under the terms to pay the EMIs in case of his accidental death.
He then shifted to the African country and died of malaria there in 2012.
His family members moved the district consumer forum in West Bengal which directed the insurer firm to pay the EMIs holding that he had died an accidental death.
The insurance firm had challenged the order before the state consumer commission which affirmed the district forum’s order holding that sudden death due to mosquito bite in a foreign land was an accident. PTI
The apex court, in its verdict, observed that illness of encephalitis malaria through a mosquito bite cannot be considered as an accident as it was neither unexpected nor unforeseen
On Insurance Claim By Kin Of Man Who Died In Mozambique
New Delhi: 27.03.2019
Death due to malaria in Mozambique, which accounts for 5% of cases of malaria globally, cannot be considered an accident, the Supreme Court held on Tuesday while deciding on a case related to insurance payout.
Dealing with a question whether death due to mosquito bite in Mozambique constitutes an accident, a bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta said: “The claim under the policy is founded on the hypothesis that there is an element of uncertainty about whether or when a person would be the victim of a mosquito bite which is a carrier of a vector-borne disease.”
It said: “The submission is that being bitten by a mosquito is an unforeseen eventuality and should be regarded as an accident. We do not agree with this submission.”
The court delivered its judgment on an appeal filed by National Insurance Co Ltd challenging the verdict of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) which had ordered payment of the insurance claim to the family members of the person who had died of malaria in Mozambique.
The deceased had taken a home loan from a bank here in 2011 and got that loan insured from the firm which was obliged under the terms to pay the EMIs in case of his accidental death.
He then shifted to the African country and died of malaria there in 2012.
His family members moved the district consumer forum in West Bengal which directed the insurer firm to pay the EMIs holding that he had died an accidental death.
The insurance firm had challenged the order before the state consumer commission which affirmed the district forum’s order holding that sudden death due to mosquito bite in a foreign land was an accident. PTI
The apex court, in its verdict, observed that illness of encephalitis malaria through a mosquito bite cannot be considered as an accident as it was neither unexpected nor unforeseen
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