Court awards over $417k in accident claim, slams Income for 'wholly unreasonable' conduct

A district court awarded more than $417,000 in damages to the family of an elderly man who suffered severe brain injuries from a traffic accident, lambasting NTUC Income over its refusal to pay certain claims.

- Selina Lum Senior Law Correspondent

Deputy Registrar Kim Bum Soo made it clear that his judgment, which was published on Oct 1, documents the insurer’s “wholly unreasonable behaviour” and “represents the court’s unmixed dissatisfaction with the manner in which NTUC Income has conducted itself”.

He said: “NTUC Income’s unfounded objections - it refused to provide explanations for some of its objections even when pointedly questioned — read like the sort of casually impersonal stonewalling that some would associate with the worst administrative processes.”

The case concerned Mr Ko Wah, who was 78 years when he was knocked down by a van at the basement carpark of an industrial building in Toh Guan Road East in June 2019, leaving him bedridden and mentally incapacitated.

In 2021, Mr Ko’s son Jonathan, in his capacity as the administrator of his father’s estate, sued the driver of the van, construction worker Samikannu Manickavasakar, and building contractor SJ Universe.

Mr Jonathan Ko, who was represented by Mr Tan Jee Ming, sought damages for his father’s pain and suffering and loss of amenities, loss of earnings, medical expenses, and other accident-related expenses.