Son sues insurance company over death benefits

The son was to receive RM200,000 in death benefits after his mother died but the insurance company claims that he is trying to cheat them.

SEREMBAN: A son is suing a major insurance company for not paying RM200,000 in death benefits from his late mother’s policy. He has lodged a police report alleging cheating by the insurance company.

S Isaikumar, who was accompanied by Seremban PSM secretary S Tinagaran, told a press conference after lodging the report at the Seremban district police headquarters that his mother, V Santha, had purchased a policy with the company on July 27, 2009, and paid a monthly premium of RM304.28.

“My mother passed away on March 21, 2010, following a heart attack. I submitted the death certificate to the headquarters of the insurance company in Kuala Lumpur and was told by a staff that there were no problems in my claim and I will receive my cheque in two months’ time.

“However on May 18, this year, which is a year after I submitted my claim, the insurance company sent me a letter informing that my claim was rejected, and instead sent me a cheque for RM2,434.24.
“On May 19, I went to the insurance company again and demanded an explanation.

“They told me they can’t do anything and this is my fault as my mother did not undergo a medical check-up before she bought the insurance policy. They accused me of cheating the insurance company,” said Isaikumar.

He added that the insurance company told him that it will re-assess his claim. Later the case was passed over to R Ganaraj from the investigation services unit.

He added that Ganaraj met him on June 10 this year and warned him not to pester the insurance company over the matter.

“He also told me that he is actually a policeman who works part-time with the insurance company,” he said.

Unreasonable excuses

Isaikumar said that he met Ganaraj again to return the RM2,434.24 cheque given to him, following which he was accused by the insurance company of hiding his mother’s real health status from the company.
“They said that my mother had suffered from anemia and that we had not conveyed this fact to the insurance company,” he said.

Tinagaran, meanwhile, said that Santha’s death had nothing to do with anemia.

“We consulted at least two doctors, one of whom is Sungai Siput Dr Michael D Jeyakumar, and they told us that anemia had nothing to do with heart attack.

“As an insurance company, they should have asked Santha to do medical check-up before they approved the policy. They received the high monthly premium from Santha and are now giving unreasonable excuses.”

Tinagaran also said that the police have recorded Isaikumar’s statement and had informed him that this case would be handled by the commercial crimes department.