A court in Gujarat's Ahmedabad has reprimanded an insurance company after it denied to pay for the treatment who was addicted to smoking. The court has ordered the insurance company to pay the person the money spent in the treatment of lung cancer.
Earlier, the insurance company had refused to pay compensation saying that the person was in the habit of smoking and due to this, he got lung cancer.
During the hearing, the court said that no evidence has been found that the person was a habitual smoker and he got lung cancer due to it. Although addiction smoking is written on the treatment documents, it does not prove that the person was addicted to smoking. The insurance company cannot make this a ground for non-payment of compensation.
The Ahmedabad court has also asked the insurance company whether people non-smokers do not get lung cancer, adding that the insurance company cannot make such an excuse and will have to pay compensation.
The insurance company had rejected the claim of the insured Alok Kumar Banerjee spending Rs 93,297 on treatment of 'Adenocarcinoma of the Lung' or lung cancer in a private hospital on the ground that he was a smoker as mentioned in the documents of his treatment.
Smita, wife of Alok Kumar Banerjee, along with Consumer Education and Research Center had challenged this in the Ahmedabad Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
