When a trip to the US earlier this year turned into a painful medical emergency , a 62-year-old woman was allegedly left stranded with heavy hospital bills and no insurer support. The Chandigarh consumer commission has now stepped in, ordering a private insurance company to reimburse her costs of USD 944, which stands at over Rs 89,000.

A bench of president Pawanjit Singh and Brij Mohan Sharma also ordered Rs 30,000 compensation for causing mental agony and harassment, as well as costs of litigation.

“After reaching the USA, i.e., during the currency of the subject policy, she suffered an injury to her nail for which she purchased medicines and also visited the Franciscan Hospital and thereby incurred total expenditure of 1,224.61 USD, but when she submitted the claim documents to the opposite parties, they failed to reimburse the claim, which amounts to deficiency in service and unfair trade practice on their part,” the commission said on October 23.

Concluding that the insurance company is guilty of…