MUMBAI: The ill-fated Mercedes GLC 220d 4MATIC car that met with an accident killing former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry and his friend Jahangir Pandol was insured by Future Generali General Insurance Company. Both the occupants were occupying the rear seat of the vehicle and had not strapped their seat belts, leading to doubts about the eligibility of insurance claims. Non-compliance of seat belt laws may not result in getting lower compensation from motor accident claims tribunals, chiefs of non-life insurance companies said. While an insurer can file a contributory negligence plea against the insured for not wearing seat belts, such plea would not be tenable.
Said the MD and CEO of a large private non-life insurer, “Technically, the insurer can file a plea for contributory negligence, but I don’t think it's tenable. Who wears a seatbelt on the rear seat?”
Nikhil Apte, chief product officer-accident and health for Royal Sundaram General Insurance, said, “In my professional view, not wearing a seat belt does not result in lower compensation or claim rejection unless the insurance policy had a clause that clearly stated that a claim will not be honoured if seat belts are not strapped. But over the last several years, all insurance contracts are being vetted by the Irdai and it's highly unlikely that they would approve clauses which are not in the interest of a customer. In case of death claims, the court mostly favour the nominee or widow.”
“Also, there can be other practical issues, for example the seat belts are broken, there were four people in the back seat. Seat belts are more of a safety recommendation and cannot be a sound basis for denial of insurance accident claims,” added Apte.
Under section 194B of The Motor Vehicles Act Act, driving without a seat belt will cost a fine of Rs 1,000 but the rule is applied for the front seat and not for the rear seat.
Human error or violation of rules is unlikely to vitiate an insurance policy and accidental death claims will continue to be honoured, insurers said.
However, the CEO of a private general insurance company said, “Generally the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal decides the compensation. Till now the experience is that not wearing a seat belt or helmet reduces the claim amount because it is non-compliance and you are taking undue risk and contributing to negligence but the claim can’t be denied.
