JUDGMENT :

1. The petitioner, who is running a small time proprietary unit which is engaged in the business of Clearing, Forwarding and Transporting of Fertilisers, is aggrieved by Ext.P3 Award of the Insurance Ombudsman.

2. The petitioner states that he owns three godowns at different parts of Kottayam and all those godowns and goods stored therein are insured by the 2nd respondent. The policies taken by the petitioner are Standard Fire and Special Perils Policy. The petitioner has been paying a total premium of about Rs.3.5 lakhs every year.

3. On 09.08.2019, torrential rains hit the area. The materials stored in the godowns were totally damaged. The incident was intimated to the insurer. A Surveyor came and assessed the total value of the stock in the godown at Rs.30,72,808/-. Since the insurer did not consider the claim of the petitioner, he preferred a complaint before the Insurance Ombudsman invoking Rule 13 read with Rule 14 of the Insurance Ombudsman Rules, 2017.

4. Though the Insurance Surveyor had assessed the total value of the stock at Rs.30,72,808/-, the petitioner, after adjusting the salvage value, made a claim of Rs.25,05,611/-only, before the Insurance Ombudsman. The I