[Resolved]  Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Ltd. — StudentEliteGold Policy, rejected genuine claim

This complaint is against

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Ltd.
Ground Floor, 32/2, Ashoka Plaza,
Next to Weikfield Company, Nagar road,
Pune – 411014
By
Hemant Kumar Shrivastava
Shivaji Nagar, Amkho Lashkar Gwalior, MP.

In reference to

Policy No. OG[protected]-00001923
Imdcode : 10013719
Insurance plan chosen: StudentEliteGold(US$2Lac)
(Ref Notification no.[protected]

I have taken above mentioned policy from Bajaj Allianz when I went for higher study in Germany (from August 2009 to July 2010). This policy not only covers health but also personal liability. During my stay in Germany I accidentally damaged the carpet in my rented apartment for which company from which I got the apartment on rent claimed 3208.07 Euros from me. Considering me as a student they only claimed 1604.03 Euros.
I provided following documents to Bajaj Allianz
1. Filled Personal liability claim form
2. Claim for compensation from the FacilityServices Hannover, Germany (from which I took apartment on rent in Germany).
3. Invoice details to rectify the damage by a separate company in Germany.
4. Photographs showing the damage on the carpet in the apartment
5. Passport/Visa copy (country entry and leaving details)
6. Rental Agreement (According to German Court of Law)
I was covered against any personal liability claim during my stay in Germany (by StudentEliteGold policy from Bajaj Allianz). Even though I was covered under the policy, Bajaj Alllianz rejected my claim for two reasons.

1. Bajaj Allianz was not informed before signing the rental contract with German Agency for rental accommodation.
2. There was no foreign court involved
I insisted that my claim is very well within the policy due to following facts.
1. Policy document nowhere explicitly mentions that I needed to inform Bajaj Allianz before signing any rental contract. Since I went for study abroad, it is very much understood that I would be living in a rented apartment. Almost all students who go abroad for study do stay in the rented apartment and for which they sign rental agreement. Since policy was for my entire stay in Germany, it has to cover my stay in rented apartment. If it is not then policy is misleading and incomplete for the student’s requirement in foreign land. According to section F #6.2 and 6.6.8 in the policy document claim against rental property damage should be very well under the scope of policy.
2. As far as intervention by foreign court of law concern, I have provided all necessary documents, according to procedures followed in Germany. I have also offered Bajaj Allianz to confirm the procedures with their German branch/counterpart. I also offered them to have talk with German agency from which I took apartment on rent. I consulted Bajaj Allianz Manager at Jaipur office, from which I bought the policy, and came to know that my claim should be very well admissible. Besides other necessary document, I provided copy of rental contract (legal from the German rental law perspective).

Based on my above arguments Bajaj Allianz accepted to review my claim. Next time they argued that I should have informed the company about rental contract while I was buying the policy. They said that premium term would have varied accordingly. It was completely baseless argument. They showed that they just do not want to pay my claim. When I insisted that their argument is baseless, as it is obvious for any student, going abroad; to sign a rent agreement and it should be well within the policy. On my argument they offered partial payment but not full, that too after many months of my filing the claim. When I re-insisted that according to policy document there is no reason for declining the full claim they denied me my claim.

I went for higher study on loan and after coming back to India I didn’t have job for many months. I not only face financial difficulties but also faced mental agony due to non acceptance of my genuine claim by Bajaj Allianz. I filed my claim in August 2010 and this is April 2011, such a long time for claim processing and finally denying the claim has caused lots of mental and psychological pressure on me. I belong to middle class family and it is very tough at my end to hire a separate lawyer to file a case against Bajaj Allianz.


With the help of this forum, now, I demand reimbursement of full claim amount (1604.03 Euros) and due compensation against mental and financial suffering caused by Bajaj Allianz. This policy has not proved friendly to students going abroad for study. I have already paid 1114.5 Euros to German company and rest 489.58 Euros are still need to be paid by me.


Regards,

Hemant
[protected]@yahoo.com