Bajaj Allianz ordered to pay ₹53 lakh insurance claim to Hyderabad woman
HYDERABAD: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-III, Hyderabad, has directed Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co Ltd to pay ₹53 lakh to a woman after her husband’s insurance claim was rejected following his death.
The commission found that the insurer failed to prove that the deceased had deliberately suppressed material health information.
It also directed Axis Bank to adjust the insurance amount against the outstanding loan and return the original property documents after closing the loan account.
Commission questions insurer’s claim of health history suppression
The commission passed the order in C.C. No. 256 of 2025 on September 28, 2026. Yanamala Rajani filed the complaint against Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance and Axis Bank.
Rajani’s husband, Yanamala Srinivas, took an MSME loan of ₹53 lakh from Axis Bank’s Gachibowli branch on August 1, 2024. He had to repay the loan in 156 monthly instalments of ₹59,903.
As part of the loan arrangement, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance issued a Group Credit Protection Plus policy on August 28, 2024. The policy covered ₹53 lakh. Srinivas paid a single premium of ₹62,489, and Rajani was the nominee.
Srinivas developed cardiac pain at about 3.11 am on April 22, 2025. His family took him to CARE Hospital in Banjara Hills. He died at about 5.30 am the same day.
Hospital records cited in the order attributed his death to cardiac complications, including evolved posterior wall myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock.
Rajani filed the insurance claim for ₹53 lakh on May 12, 2025. Bajaj Allianz rejected the claim on August 20, 2025.
The insurer cited medical records that allegedly showed a history of coronary artery disease, angioplasty, diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia.
Bank says it only facilitated insurance policy
Bajaj Allianz argued that Srinivas had failed to disclose his pre-existing cardiac condition in the proposal form. The insurer relied on its investigation report and medical records.
It also said the insurance contract followed the principle of utmost good faith.
Axis Bank told the commission that it only facilitated the insurance policy. It said the insurance contract was between Srinivas and Bajaj Allianz.
The bank said it collected the premium and remitted it to the insurer but had no role in underwriting or deciding the claim.
The commission, however, found that the insurer failed to discharge its burden under Section 45 of the Insurance Act, 1938.
The commission noted that Bajaj Allianz relied on investigation summaries and copies of medical records. However, it did not produce an affidavit or deposition from the treating doctor who had allegedly recorded Srinivas’s earlier medical history.
The commission also noted that the insurer did not conduct an independent pre-policy medical examination despite the ₹53 lakh cover.
It further said the insurer failed to establish that the health questionnaire was read out, explained and answered individually by Srinivas.
Based on these findings, the commission held the August 20, 2025 repudiation arbitrary, illegal and void.
Bajaj Allianz told to pay 9% interest
The commission directed Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance to pay the ₹53 lakh claim with 9% annual interest from August 20, 2025, until payment.
It directed Axis Bank to adjust the amount against the outstanding loan balance. The bank must then close the loan account and return the original mortgaged property documents to Rajani.
The commission also directed the two opposite parties to jointly and severally pay ₹50,000 for mental agony, anxiety and harassment.
They must also pay ₹10,000 towards litigation expenses.
