CHANDIGARH: Chandigarh consumer commission has directed United India Insurance to pay Rs 2.93 lakh to a policyholder after finding that the insurer had wrongly rejected his motor insurance claim over an inadvertent error in the dates of his previous policy.The complainant, Neeraj Garg, had purchased a fresh motor insurance policy from United India Insurance in April 2025 after his earlier Tata AIG policy expired. While filling the online proposal form, he mistakenly entered the previous policy period as April 3, 2024, to April 2, 2025, instead of the correct dates, April 2, 2024, to April 1, 2025.However, he had also submitted a copy of the previous policy clearly showing the correct dates. The insurer accepted a premium of Rs 19,520 and issued the new policy.When his vehicle met with an accident near Kartarpur in July 2025, the insurer rejected his claim, citing a two-day break in coverage and the absence of mandatory pre-inspection. The commission observed that the correct policy details were already available with the insurer and that its own surveyor had assessed the net liability at Rs 2,93,507. It termed the repudiation hyper-technical and held it amounted to deficiency in service and unfair trade practice.The commission directed the insurer to pay Rs 2,93,507 with 9% annual interest from the date of repudiation, along with Rs 10,000 compensation for mental agony and Rs 10,000 towards litigation costs.
