Surat: The Surat consumer disputes redressal commission (CDRC) has questioned a surveyor’s method of fixing the value of a car after a crash and ordered the insurer to pay the full IDV (Insured Declared Value) of Rs 20.3 lakh to the owner.The surveyor estimated the value of the Volvo car at only Rs 8 lakh after the crash. The court said the customer had paid a premium of Rs 60,021 for an IDV of Rs 20.3 lakh and was bound to get that sum in case of total loss. The court also took a harsh view of the insurer and its tactics. According to the case, the car owner took a policy with an IDV of Rs 20.3 lakh from ICICI Lombard General Insurance Ltd on July 17, 2021. The complainant was travelling on the Surat–Bardoli road on July 11, 2022. As the weather was rainy and foggy, visibility was low. The truck ahead braked hard and the car hit it from behind. Police reached the spot soon after the crash. No FIR was filed as no one was hurt. The car was taken to the Volvo workshop in Hazira, where the repair bill came to Rs 18.44 lakh. The insurer turned down the claim in Nov 2022 after a surveyor said the car’s market value was Rs 8 lakh. The claim was rejected on grounds of misstatement of facts and that the cause of the loss was not proved. The insurer also said the owner had not maintained the car properly. The owner then moved the consumer court. He showed pictures from the day of the crash taken on his phone, which the court accepted as they showed the rainy weather at the spot. The court pulled up the insurer over the surveyor’s report, which showed the loss as zero and fixed the car’s value at only Rs 8 lakh. “The surveyor had gone went to the Volvo authorized service station. As the bill for repairs submitted by the owner was Rs 18.44 lakhs, the company gave no clarification on why the loss was estimated as zero. The market value of the car was shown to be Rs 8 lakh. However, the IDV was Rs 20.3 lakh, for which the premium was paid. As the IDV is part of the agreement between the insurer and the car owner, there is no reason or situation to make an estimate against the IDV in this case,” the Surat CDRC observed. As the repair bill was more than 75% of the IDV, the court held that the car was a total loss and ordered the insurer to pay the full IDV of Rs 20.3 lakh to the owner.
