Insurers can deny claim over hiding drinking habit, rules apex court

The claims of people who drink alcohol but keep it a secret from their insurance companies could be rejected — even if the death was not directly caused by alcoholism.

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NEW DELHI:

The Supreme Court has ruled that insurers are within their rights to repudiate claims if policyholders conceal their drinking habit while buying health insurance.

A bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta upheld the Life Insurance Corporation's (LIC) decision to deny a claim under its Jeevan Arogya policy to a man who took the policy in 2013 but failed to disclose that he was a chronic alcoholic.