Cheating by Insurance company
I own a Toyota automobile which I purchased brand new from the Toyota dealer. At the time of purchase, I also purchased insurance from Toyota called “Toyota Protect” which was sold to me as the best insurance available in the market. It is an add-on policy and I was provided a policy number by Toyota. What I found later is that Toyota is just a broker and the actual insurer is another entity with a separate policy number.
My car was damaged by the floods in Chennai last year. First I took it to the Toyota dealer to file a claim with Toyota Protect. A claim number was generated with Toyota Protect. But since the actual insurer is another entity, the insurer also generated a separate claim number. At that point, Toyota Protect just became a messenger service and passed me over to the insurance company.
The insurance company surveyor first obtained an estimate from the dealer which was higher than the IDV and tried to declare it a total loss. He also submitted a survey report for this estimate. The company also tried to sell my vehicle without my permission and received money from a buyer for the same. I disputed this estimate and demanded that my car be repaired instead of it being declared a total loss since I felt that the car could be repaired for a cost less than 75% of the IDV as stated in the policy. The insurance company told me that I should have a “second survey” if I wanted it repaired and asked me to send an email requesting a “second survey”. I was also asked to submit a second estimate. Accordingly, I obtained a repair estimate from a local garage to repair it at a cost which is less than 75% of the IDV. The insurance company appointed a different surveyor who verbally approved my estimate. I repaired the car for a cost which is a little higher than the original estimate from another local garage but still less than 75% of the IDV. The first local garage could not complete the repairs. Now the second surveyor submitted a second survey report which is significantly lower than the repair cost of even the first local garage and differs from the first survey report by several lakhs of rupees. The insurance company's objective is to pay the same amount of money under the total loss or the repair scenario. If the car was declared a total loss, they would have sold the car and paid an amount after the sale proceeds. The second survey report matches this amount. They are using the 2 survey reports to accomplish this objective and the fact that the 2 reports for the same car and the same accident differ by several lakhs of rupees suggests that the 2 reports are fabricated. I filed a criminal complaint with the police for cheating. The police attempted to negotiate with the insurance company but are refusing to register an FIR and claim that this is strictly a civil issue. I do feel that it is a criminal issue. Can someone give me some advice?
Also, the second survey report does not provide the benefits promised by Toyota Protect. I feel that Toyota is liable for the benefits promised in the add on and the main portion of the policy since the policy and claim number were both generated by Toyota Protect. But when I address the issues with Toyota Protect, they keep telling me that all they can do is negotiate with the insurer and the ultimate decision will come from the insurer.
Asked 8 years ago in Criminal Law
Religion: Hindu
Thank you all for the answers. I still feel that there is criminality here due to the situation with the 2 survey reports required by the insurance company. At least one advocate, Mr. Ashish Davessar, seems to agree with me. Most people feel that a forgery is a document with a counterfeit signature. Actually a forgery is any document which is not genuine and which is fabricated for the purpose of deceiving or cheating someone. In this situation, the insurance company fabricated 2 survey reports for the purpose of deceiving or cheating me. If they had fabricated only one survey report, it would be difficult to prove that it is fabricated. But here, they created 2 survey reports - one for Rs. 9.5 lakhs and the other for Rs. 3.5 lakhs, for the same vehicle and the same accident. So it should not be difficult to prove that they are fabricated and are essentially forgeries. And if the insurance company is guilty of forgeries, then there is criminality here.
Any advice regarding the above contention?
Also, all of you have advised going to the consumer court. The insurance company with whom I did not directly deal with has an arbitration clause in the policy. So am I restricted to Arbitration? As mentioned in my earlier question, I purchased my policy and filed my claim with Toyota Protect. But they are a broker and underwrote the policy with the insurance company.
Asked 8 years ago
If I file a complaint in the consumer forum, what is the amount I can claim for loss of use of the automobile, mental agony, etc. What is the guideline to use?
Asked 7 years ago
Based on the advice of most of you, I filed a complaint in the Consumer Forum against Toyota as the 1st Respondent. But Toyota did not file a counter or a written version and was declared ex-parte. Based on the advice of a local advocate, I impleaded the insurance company as the 2nd Respondent. They too kept delaying filing the written version, asking for adjournments at every hearing. They were using delaying tactics. Finally, after 45 days had elapsed, the judge declared the 2nd respondent ex-parte as well. Now the 2nd Respondent (insurance company) has filed a set-aside petition along with a frivolous written version. In their set aside petition, they state that their delay in filing the written version was due to a delay in communication between their legal department and their counsel. So in my view, the delay was caused by their own negligence as the reasons they attribute to the delay were within their control and not due to anything they had no control over. So, my question is can I get their set aside petition dismissed on the grounds that their failure to file the written version before the 45 day deadline was caused by their own negligence? It seems to me that if the court allowed their set aside petition, they would set a bad precedent in condoning a negligent party and the 45 day deadline would essentially become meaningless as it could easily be abused. Are there any prior judgments that support my argument which I could reference in my counter to their set aside petition?
Asked 6 years ago