Kathmandu: The number of pending cases are piling up every year due to the failure of the quasi-judicial body Insurance Board to settle the issue on time.
In the last fiscal year 2077/78 alone, 137 new cases have been filed at Insurance Board. While in the previous Fiscal Year 2076/77, 136 cases remained unsolved. In the last fiscal year, out of 273 cases, including the previous fiscal year, only 93 cases have been settled so far.
Even the ordinary complainants have not been able to get their turn as the meeting of the judiciary committee has not taken place. Insurers have been further affected due to non-hearing of complaints received from insurance companies. If we look at the complaints and cases decided in the last four fiscal years, many cases have been pending for years.
In the fiscal year 2074/75, there were 116 new and old cases. Of these, only 26 were settled. 7 cases were kept in pending and 83 cases could not be settled.
Similarly, in the fiscal year 2075/76, 100 new cases were registered including 83 old ones. But that year too, so far a total of 85 cases have been settled. In the Fiscal Year 2076/77, 126 additional cases were registered including 101 pending cases from the previous FY. This year, out of 229 cases, including new and old, only 91 cases were settled and no hearing has been done for 136 other cases.
Thus, the number of cases in the Insurance Board is increasing every year. The insured are not able to get justice as the Board has not given priority to the decision of the case. It is found that most of the cases are filed by insured against the non-life insurers for their unpaid claim and dissatisfaction of the claim amount paid by them.
As there is no proper assessment of the damage in the surveyors’ report, the insured have approached the Board with a complaint. It has been blamed that the surveyors act in favour of the insurer and deprive the insured with poor valuation of the actual damage.
