Insurance Claims

I found this article on the Straits Times. Make sure that you do not fall into the same predicament as this Mr Tay.

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He got $900k but wants to claim an additional $17,000

A FREAK accident with a sheet of wire mesh cost Mr Tay Eng Chuan his left eye, and it took him seven years to get almost $1 million in insurance claims.

But it will take a little longer before the saga is over. His last hope to claim a further $17,000 from his insurer now lies with the highest court in the country - the Court of Appeal.

He received more than $900,000 in insurance payouts early this year after arbitration hearings in 2007.

But unhappy with the result, he appealed to the High Court against the decision by the arbitrators.

After the High Court ruled against him this year, he now wants to take the case to the Court of Appeal.

Mr Tay, 60, a remisier, became blind in his left eye after the accident in November 2002.
The accident happened as Mr Tay, an engineer by profession, was carrying a sheet of wire mesh in his hands.

As he bent down to enter a store room in his home, he bumped his head on the beam just above the entrance.

A corner of the wire mesh became embedded in his left eye, and his shouts drew the attention of his wife, who helped him get out of the room before calling for the Singapore Civil Defence Force.

Ambulance officers helped remove the wire mesh and took him to the National University Hospital, where he was warded for 12 days.

He filed his insurance claims within the month, but his two insurers rejected all of them two years later, claiming Mr Tay had caused the injury on purpose.

Unhappy with their decisions, Mr Tay took them to an arbitration tribunal managed by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.

Out of the six insurance suits, Mr Tay's claim against Overseas Union Insurance (OUI) failed as the tribunal found he had failed to disclose other insurance policies he held - a requirement for OUI policy holders. But it awarded him payouts on the other five policies managed by United Overseas Insurance (UOI).

By February this year, UOI had paid him about $940,000 in insurance, interest and costs. But Mr Tay wanted more.

He wanted amendments made such that he would get a further $17,000, but the tribunal did not allow it.

Mr Tay then took his case to the High Court, in effect for permission to appeal against the decision of the tribunal. This, too, was rejected.

Justice Judith Prakash noted that Mr Tay had been slow to file his appeal, and was not convinced by his reasons for the delay. Among other things, Mr Tay said he was 'immersed' in another claim against another insurer, which made it difficult for him to meet the deadline.

But the judge noted that Mr Tay was capable of multi-tasking.

Justice Prakash said: '(Mr Tay) is an educated and intelligent litigant who was no stranger to arbitration proceedings.'

She added that he had raised only 'minor points', and therefore, the appeal should not be allowed to go on. Contacted on Tuesday, Mr Tay said he was disappointed.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.