ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday upheld nine decisions of the Federal Insurance Ombudsman (FIO), directing two insurance companies to pay a collective sum of over Rs15.2 million to insurance policyholders or their family members.

According to the President House, the president gave these directions while rejecting six representations of EFU Life Assurance and three representations of Pak-Qatar Family Takaful, filed against FIO’s decisions.

As per the details, it was alleged before FIO that the agents of EFU Life Assurance allured Mohammed Shafiq and Adeeb Roshan, whereas Mohammad Mumtaz Malik, Mohammad Shabbir, and Abid Hussain Khokhar were enticed by the agents of Pak-Qatar Family Takaful Ltd to invest in profitable schemes, assuring them of monthly returns on their investments.

When they approached the companies concernedfor returns or reimbursement of their amounts, the companies rejected their claims.

In other cases, EFU Life Assurance Limited repudiated the death claims filed by the family members of late Ali Haider, Shaikh Ali Hassan, Chand Ali, and Ali Akbar.

Feeling aggrieved, the complainants separately approached the FIO for the redressal of their complaints. The ombudsman, after hearing their cases, directed the companies to pay a total of Rs15.2 million to the complainants.

Later, the insurance companies filed separate representations against the decisions of FIO before the president. The hearings of the cases were held at Aiwan-i-Sadr, and since, no legal infirmity was found in the impugned orders of FIO, the representations were rejected.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2024