Arbitration Clause under Consequential Loss of Profit
Most of the insurance policies have “Arbitration clause” but there two insurance policies which do not have the same like Marine Cargo Insurance (Open Cover) and Consequential Loss of Profit (CLOP). The CLOP is known as Business Interruption under Industrial All Risk and Mega Risk but under the Arbitration clause is included.
The question arises, if the Arbitration clause is not included in the policy, whether the Insured can demand the appointment of the Arbitrator under Arbitration and Conciliation Act. The legally the Arbitrator cannot be appointed except with the mutual consent between the parties i.e. Insurer and Insured. In one of the live cases, the Insured wrote to Insurer to “invoke the Arbitration Clause” and Insurer appointed the Arbitrator but later on , the Insurer came to know the non existence of the Arbitration clause” and the Insurer refused to honour its earlier commitment and withdraw its letter of appointment. Hence the Insured have no option but to go to the Court to appoint an Arbitrator as per earlier commitment of the Insurer.
Further, quantum disputes under CLOP cannot be filed with Consumer Courts as it is related to profit and Consumer Courts either do not entertain such cases or objected by Legal Counsel of the Insurer. The civil suit is only remedy but it is costly affairs as the filing of a suit in the civil court attracts the court fees at the rate 6 to 8% on the claim amount.
So, all are requested to be careful while insuring under CLOP to incorporate the proper clauses to avoid any dispute but the Arbitration clause may not be included by the Insurer being a tariff product.
Other issues related to CLOP will be discussed next week but do not forget to send your comments on the above findings.