Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) – Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum – take comprehensive insurance policy under the ‘Public Liability Policy for Oil Industries’ to provide speedy relief to the affected persons in case of LPG-related accidents. It covers all LPG consumers registered with the OMCs.
Features of the policy
The insurance policies taken by LPG distributors/PSU OMCs are public liability policies and not in the name of any individual LPG customer.
No premium for any insurance policy is collected from the customer by the LPG distributors.
The claim amount is remitted to the oil company concerned which in turn remits it to the claimant or beneficiary.
The comprehensive insurance policy taken by PSU OMCs provides for claims on account of legal liability, personal accident cover to third party and damage at authorised customers’ registered premises.
Scope of the policy
Public liability insurance policy taken by the OMCs covers losses arising out of accidents where LPG is the primary cause of fire and not for cases where the primary cause of fire is other sources or reasons wherein LPG cylinders get engulfed and subsequently burst.
Currently, the policy provides for the following:
Personal accident cover of ₹4 lakh-₹6 lakh per person in case of death.
Covers medical expenses of ₹15-₹30 lakh, with maximum of ₹1 lakh-₹2 lakh per person.
In case of property damage, it covers a maximum of ₹1 lakh-₹2 lakh at authorised customer’s registered premises.
Procedure to be followed by customers:
In case of any accident involving a consumer's installation, he/she has to forthwith advise the supplying distributor.
Whenever an accident is reported, the area office concerned investigates the cause of mishap and if it's an LPG accident, the local office of the insurance company is notified by the concerned distributor or area office, which then lodges a claim with the insurance company.
The oil/gas companies assist the customer concerned or the next of kin in completing the processes of insurance claims.
Customers are not required to apply to the insurance company or to contact it directly.
Customers are required to submit to the oil company the originals of death certificate(s) and post-mortem report(s)/coroners report/inquest report, as applicable, in case of deaths and original medical bills, doctors' prescriptions in original, hospital discharge card in original and any other documents related to the hospitalisation in case of injuries.
In case of property damage at customers’ registered premises, the insurance company appoints their surveyor to assess the loss.
Claims are settled based upon the merit of each case. The insurance company takes decisions regarding settlement of the claim as per the provisions of insurance policies.
(The writer is a Vile Parle-based social activist)
