Madras high court makes it mandatory to have five-year bumper to bumper insurance cover for all new vehic – Times of India

CHENNAI: The Madras high court has made it mandatory for all vehicles sold after September 1 to have bumper to bumper insurance cover for five years.
Justice S Vaidyanathan passed the order in a bid to ensure that all people who travel in a vehicle, including the driver, are covered under insurance.
The court passed the order while setting aside an award passed by a motor accident tribunal directing an insurance company to pay Rs 14.65 lakh as compensation to the family of a deceased person though the vehicle involved in the accident was covered with only a ‘third party’ insurance (covers injuries/damages caused to third party and not the occupants of the vehicle or damages caused to the vehicle).
The tribunal made the insurance company liable since it failed to produce the entire policy condition.
“It is saddening to point out that when a vehicle is sold, the buyer is not clearly informed about the terms of policy and its importance. Similarly, at the time of buying the vehicle, the buyer is also not interested in thoroughly understanding the terms and conditions of the policy. They are more concerned about the vehicle’s performance and not about the policy,” the court said.
When a buyer is ready to pay a huge amount for purchase of a vehicle, it is really shocking as to why the buyer is not interested in spending a paltry sum to take a policy so as to safeguard themselves and others, the court wondered.
After the initial five years, the court said, the owner of the vehicle should be cautious in safeguarding the interest of the driver, passengers, third parties and themselves, so as to avoid unnecessary liability being foisted on the owner of the vehicle.