In Brief
The spouse of the appellant obtained life insurance policies with accident benefit provisions from the Life Insurance Corporation of India. When he suffered a heart attack while riding his motorcycle and fell, the insurance company rejected the accident benefit claim. The lower consumer forums allowed the claim, but the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission reversed this. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, holding that to claim accident benefits, the claimant must prove the assured sustained bodily injury from an accident caused by outward, violent and visible means, and that the injury—not another cause—directly caused death. Here, medical evidence established death resulted from a heart attack, with no proof that injuries from the fall caused it. Therefore, the accident benefit was not payable.
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