Now Reading: NCDRC upholds ICICI Prudential claim rejection for hidden diabetes history
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NCDRC upholds ICICI Prudential claim rejection for hidden diabetes history
NCDRC upholds ICICI Prudential claim rejection for hidden diabetes history
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has dismissed a plea by the family of Mohammad Hussain and upheld ICICI Prudential Life Insurance's rejection of a home loan insurance claim. Hussain had…
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has dismissed a plea by the family of Mohammad Hussain and upheld ICICI Prudential Life Insurance's rejection of a home loan insurance claim. Hussain had taken a home loan of Rs 4,26,801 from Dewan Housing Finance in March 2012, with a Home Assure policy for a single premium of Rs 21,801. He died in March 2014, but the insurer repudiated the claim after finding that he had failed to disclose a hospitalisation for uncontrolled diabetes and sepsis just before taking the policy.
The NCDRC, in its 17 August 2026 order, ruled that the undisclosed medical history was material information that would have influenced a prudent insurer's decision. It rejected the family's argument that Section 45 of the Insurance Act prevented questioning the policy after two years, noting that the pre-2015 version still allowed repudiation if fraudulent suppression was proved. The Commission said ICICI Prudential had discharged its burden of proving material information was hidden.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Insurance law draws a sharp line between innocent nondisclosure and deliberate suppression. The NCDRC applied the pre-2015 version of Section 45 of the Insurance Act, under which even a two-year-old policy can be voided if the insurer proves a material fact was fraudulently hidden. A hospitalisation record 13 months before the policy was taken, with diagnoses of uncontrolled diabetes and sepsis, was held to be precisely that kind of material fact. Home loan insurance is a single-premium product that typically covers the borrower's decreasing liability: here the premium was only Rs 21,801 on a loan of roughly Rs 4.3 lakh. For families expecting the policy to wipe out the debt, the ruling is a reminder that insurers will check medical records from years before the proposal.
Source: livemint.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
