In a landmark judgment, the Kerala High Court has ruled that insurance companies cannot reject accident-related claims merely because the driver had alcohol in their blood at the time of the incident. The court clarified that insurers must prove actual intoxication or impairment of faculties to deny compensation. Advertisement

“The mere presence of alcohol is insufficient to exclude the insurer from liability,” the court stated.

The ruling came in the case of K.S. Shibu, a Kerala government employee who died in a 2009 road accident. His insurer, National Insurance Co. Ltd, had denied the claim under a clause excluding deaths “under the influence of liquor.”

Upholding the Insurance Ombudsman’s decision favoring Shibu’s widow, the court directed payment of Rs 7 lakh compensation, setting

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