Ahead of the New Year revelry, here is a warning from the Supreme Court for all parents — Do not lend your two-wheelers or cars to your children, who are eager to impress their peer group, without taking an appropriate insurance cover. For, if the youngster driving your vehicle meets with a fatal accident and, even if you have a third-party insurance cover, the insurer is not liable to compensate the death of your child, says the apex court.
People may find this logic strange because the insurance company is liable to pay in case of an accident if the vehicle was driven by the owner. But, the apex court said the thirdparty insurance policy does not cover parent-child relationship. This judgment given last week by a bench of Justices S B Sinha and Cyriac Joseph would make twowheeler owners and their children to be that much more careful as it follows another apex court ruling denying insurance claim to injured pillion riders, terming them as gratuitous passengers.
In the instant case, a Ranchibased father had little idea of the misfortune awaiting him when he allowed his motorcycle to be used by his son. The speeding youngster met with an accident as a stray dog came in front of his bike. While the pillion rider was thrown off the bike, the rider died in the accident. The Jharkhand high court sympathised with the grieving father and asked the insurance company to compensate the loss. This was challenged in the Supreme Court by New India Assurance Company arguing that “keeping in view the relationship between the deceased and the owner of the motor vehicle, that is father and son, the latter was not a third party”.
The question before the SC was—“whether the insurer is liable to pay the amount of compensation in relation to the accident occurred by use of the vehicle which was being driven by the son of the insured”. Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice Sinha took note of a 2006 verdict in the case United India Insurance Co Ltd Vs Tilak Singh, in which the apex court had held that “the insurance company would have no liability towards the injuries suffered by the deceased who was a pillion rider, as the insurance policy was a statutory policy which did not cover gratuitous passenger”.
That’s something new I learned today. Thanks for sharing this info to us.
Happy Holidays!
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