Maharashtra: Insurance firm told to pay Rs 2.72 lakh for snake bite death

The incident happened when the farmer was bitten by a snake in the field. Representation pic

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DCDRC) directed an Insurance company to pay Rs 2.72 lakh to the complainant, as her husband had died due to a snake bite in Ratnagiri, which the company had earlier denied due to frivolous reasons.

The consumer court in Parel had directed the insurance company to pay the amount to the complainant in 30 days as the company could not prove that the complainant had not submitted some of the documents necessary for the insurance.

The incident happened on June 20, 2017, when the victim, Dattaram Mandgavkar, a farmer by profession, was working in the field and was bitten by a venomous snake. He was taken to the hospital and the doctors declared him dead on arrival.

Dattaram's wife, Darpana, then submitted all the relevant documents to the revenue officer to claim her husband's insurance. In 2018, the regional Forensics Science department reported that the victim had died due to a snake bite. However, the company did not pay the insurance money.

In 2019, Darpana sent a legal notice to the company to which it allegedly did not respond. Darpana then approached the consumer court in 2021.

"Dattaram had taken the Gopinath Munde Farmer Personal Accident Insurance, and the said company was liable to pay R2 lakh, as he was bitten by a poisonous snake. His wife, Darpana, had submitted all the relevant documents to the revenue officer, however, the insurance company had denied giving insurance over some missing documents," said advocate Abhaykumar Jadhav.

According to the company, the complainant had allegedly not submitted a report, which stated that Dattaram had died of a snake bite and hence his wife, Darpana, was not liable to claim the money. "The company had said that we had not submitted the document that stated he had died from a snake's bite. We then produced it in court and the court gave an order in our favour," the advocate added.

Besides the Rs 2lakh the company was to pay an additional 6 per cent interest rate, which amounts to Rs 72,000, and an additional fine of Rs 15,000 to the complainant, Darpana Madgavkar.