Chandigarh, April 13 -- The district consumer disputes redressal commission-I has directed HDFC Life Insurance Company Limited to pay over Rs.1.17 crore, along with interest, to a Sector-21 resident, whose husband had died of Covid-19 in 2021, ruling that the insurer had wrongly rejected her claim. In its order, the commission also held the insurer guilty of deficiency in service and unfair trade practices. Complainant Dipti Walia had moved the commission, stating that her husband Daljit Singh Walia had taken a home loan of Rs.1.12 crore from HDFC Ltd in October 2020 for a property in Ludhiana. As per the loan conditions, he was required to purchase a term insurance policy from HDFC Life Insurance, for which a premium of over Rs.4 lakh was deducted. The policy carried a sum assured of Rs.1.17 crore. He contracted Covid in May 2021, was admitted to a hospital in Ludhiana on May 8, and died two days later. When his wife, the nominee, filed a claim with the insurer, it was rejected on grounds of alleged non-disclosure of pre-existing diabetes and hypertension. The complainant, through her counsel Deepak Aggarwal, argued that the medical records showed that the death was due to Covid and that the alleged pre-existing conditions were unrelated. While HDFC Ltd was also made an opposite party in the claim and they filed their reply, HDFC Life Insurance Company was unable to file its reply within the stipulated period of 45 days and their defence was struck off the record. "In this case, the pre-existing ailment was clearly unrelated to the cause of death. We are also of the view that the ailment concealed by the deceased was not a life-threatening disease," the commission, under president Pawanjit Singh and member Suresh Kumar Sardana, noted. It further held that lifestyle diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, cannot be grounds for outright repudiation of insurance claims. In the present case, the victim, when admitted to hospital, had glucose levels at 82, which is treated as normal. They also cited the 2018 case of Neelam Chopra vs Life Insurance Corporation of India, in which the national consumer commission had observed that diabetes and high-blood pressure are lifestyle diseases and the claim of the insured cannot be repudiated/rejected on that ground only. The commission directed HDFC Life Insurance Company Limited to pay Rs.1.17 crore along with interest to the applicant. It further awarded Rs.25,000 as compensation for mental agony and Rs.10,000 as litigation costs. The complaint against HDFC Ltd and the hospital, Mohandai Oswal Cancer Treatment & Research Foundation, in Ludhiana was dismissed as their role was limited and no deficiency in service was established against them....