1. Insurance claim — Liability of insurance company — Recovery of balance amount from the vehicle owner. (Para 2 )
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2019 Supreme(SC) 1759
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Indira Banerjee, JJ.
B. Appellamma & Ors. - Appellants
Versus
United India Insurance Co. Ltd. & Anr. - Respondents
Civil Appeal No. 2488 of 2019
Decided On : 05-03-2019
Advocates Appeared:
A.S. Rao, Adv., V. Sridhar Reddy, Adv., Ram Swarup Sharma, Adv., S.L. Gupta, Adv., Bikash C Varinder Kumar Sharma, Adv., Kuldeep Singh Tomar, Adv., Dinesh Mohan Sinha, Adv.
A.S. Rao, Adv., V. Sridhar Reddy, Adv., Ram Swarup Sharma, Adv., S.L. Gupta, Adv., Bikash C Varinder Kumar Sharma, Adv., Kuldeep Singh Tomar, Adv., Dinesh Mohan Sinha, Adv.
Enforcement of remedy and liability of insurance company.
Headnote:
Insurance Liability - Enforcement of Remedy - The court directed the insurance company to pay the full amount of liability and allowed recovery of the balance from another party, considering the economic status of the claimants.
Fact of the Case:
The limited question examined was the effect of the direction that the insurance company is liable to pay only a sum of Rs.25,000/- and the balance amount may be recovered from another party.
Finding of the Court:
The court directed the insurance company to pay the full amount of liability and allowed recovery of the balance from another party, considering the economic status of the claimants.
Issues: Enforcement of remedy and economic status of the claimants.
Ratio Decidendi: The economic status of the claimants and the enforceability of the remedy were key factors in the court's decision to direct the insurance company to pay the full amount of liability.
Final Decision: The appeal was disposed of with the direction for the insurance company to pay the full amount of liability and allowing recovery of the balance from another party.
Legal Category Hierarchy
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tort
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insurance law
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motor accident claims
- recovery of award (Para 4)
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motor accident claims
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insurance law
Table of Contents
2. Claimants' contention — Impossibility of enforcing remedy against the owner due to economic status. (Para 3 )
3. Direction for insurance company to pay full amount to claimants and subsequently recover the excess from the owner. (Para 4 )
4. Insurance company may be directed to pay the full award amount and recover the excess from the owner to ensure claimant's remedy. (Para 4 )
5. Insurance company directed to pay full amount with liberty to recover the excess from the owner. (Para 4 , 5 )
6. Can an insurance company be directed to pay the full award amount and recover the excess from the owner?
Yes, the court may direct the insurance company to pay the full amount to the claimant and subsequently recover the amount beyond its liability from the owner. (Para 4 )
ORDER
1. Leave granted.
2. The limited question to be examined arising from the impugned order is the effect of the direction that the insurance company is liable to pay only a sum of Rs.25,000/- and the balance amount may be recovered from the respondent No.2.
3. The appellant(s)/claimant(s) seeks to contend that it is impossible for the appellants to enforce their remedy specially giving their economic status.
4. On the conspectus of the matter and on hearing learned counsel for the parties, we consider it appropriate to direct that full amount should be paid by respondent No.1-Insurance Company and the amount beyond the liability to be paid by respondent No.1 may be recovered by the Insurance company from respondent No.2.
5. The appeal accordingly stands disposed of.
Parties to bear their own costs.
