Third-Party Insurance In India: Legal Framework And Evolving Jurisprudence
- IJLLR Journal
- Jul 18
- 2 min read
Nisha Patnaik, KIIT School of Law
ABSTRACT
Basically, insurance is a type of contract wherein the insurer, after acceptance of a certain consideration, agrees to indemnify the insured with the required amount against the happening of any kind of uncertain and unexpected events. There are different categories of insurances available in India for various aspects. One kind of insurance is insurance with respect to third parties, which is a statutory mandate under the Act of 1988 relating to motor vehicles, wherein the damage or injury caused by an insured to a third party is covered and the third party is compensated for the damages. As the name suggests, i. e third party insurance, there are three parties involved here, one party being the insured, the second being the insurance company and the third party being the individual who has claimed damages against the injury caused to him by the insured.
This kind of insurance safeguards and secures the interests of the society at large. The reason for making this kind of insurance mandate for the owners of the motor vehicles, was to make sure that in case of damage caused to a third party, the third party is compensated even if the insured is financially incapable to pay for the damages caused. This accompanying paper basically deals with insurance related to third party considering its historical evolution, general idea and salient features of the same, relevant statutory provisions, rights and duties of third party and at the end, the paper has mention of certain judicial precedents corresponding to the insurance with respect to third party in India.
Keywords: Third Party Insurance, The Motor Vehicles Act, Insured, Damage, Compensation
