No insurance claim if the accident is caused by Negligence.

One cannot make an insurance claim for a road accident if it was caused by one’s own fault, the Supreme Court has held.

“A claimant, in our view, cannot maintain a claim if he/she has caused the accident on account of his/her own rash and negligent driving, and make the insurance company pay for the same,” a bench of justices N V Ramana and S Abdul Nazeer said.

The top court set aside a judgement by the Tripura High Court directing the National Insurance Company to pay Rs 10.57 lakhs to the family members of Dilip Bhowmik, who died on May 20, 2012, after meeting with an accident.

After going through the facts of the case, the court noted that the deceased was the victim of his own action of rash and negligent driving. Therefore, his family members could not have maintained the claim petition filed under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act. However the family members were entitled to Rs 2 lakhs, as indemnification was extended to personal accident of the deceased.