NRI from US accuses insurance company of fraud

Tribune News Service

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Jalandhar, March 12

A non-resident Indian from the United States has been running from pillar to post alleging that the LIC branch of Nakodar had defrauded him as the maturity amount of his Rs 3 lakh insurance policy had been encashed by someone else when he was abroad.

In a complaint submitted with the Chief Vigilance Officer of the LIC of India, Mumbai, NRI Sukhwinder Singh of Apra said he had taken a life insurance policy of Rs 3 lakh with yearly mode of premium on October 28, 1994 for a term of 15 years from the branch office of Nakodar while he was in India.

He said the policy was to mature on October 28, 2009 but he could not come from the US at that time.

“When I came here recently on a month-long trip, I was shocked to know that the maturity claim had been paid by deceptive means to someone else. I had to take the RTI route to seek information on the matter. The RTI revealed that a fresh policy had been made by recycling my maturity proceeds prepared for re-investment and a cheque for Rs 3,22,824 had been prepared for balance maturity proceeds. The amount reinvested for the fresh policy has not been disclosed to me nor has it been signed by the person whose life was insured from his money,” he added.

He said that the maturity claim payment was made on November 9, 2009 for a net amount of Rs 3,47,823 after deduction of amount of Rs 25,376 against the policy. The gross maturity proceeds were Rs 3,73,200.

He had been denied information and documents on the pretext that the discharge form obtained for payment of maturity claim and other allied documents were not traceable in the branch at present, he added.

He had been told that a payment voucher had been made in his name but the physical record in respect of the dispatch was untraceable. His cheque was encashed on July 9, 2010 from Lakhimpur Khiri branch of Punjab National Bank.