United India Insurance Ordered to Pay Full Compensation

Authority: Supreme Court of India

Order Date: 27 July 2026

Case Overview

• Parties: Subha & ors (appellants) vs United India Insurance Company Ltd. & ors (respondents).
• Appeal challenges the Madurai Bench of the High Court of Madras judgment dated 24 March 2023 (CMA(MD) No.288 of 2023) which calculated loss‑of‑income compensation on the deceased’s net income, reducing the amount from Rs 42,63,904 to Rs 27,97,000.
• Appellants argued that established Supreme Court precedent requires the use of gross income for such calculations, citing the Indira Srivastava case and the Kalpanaraj & Ors. vs Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (2015) decision.
• The High Court had relied on National Insurance Company Limited vs. Pranay Sethi & Ors. (2017) to justify the net‑income approach.
• Respondent‑Insurance Company contended that the High Court correctly applied the gross‑income principle based on the National Insurance Company Limited judgment and that it had already deposited the full compensation with the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Kuzhithurai.
• The Supreme Court examined the legal position and reaffirmed that compensation under the head ‘Loss of Income’ must be determined on the basis of gross income, as unequivocally settled in Kalpanaraj & Ors. vs. Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation.

Final Outcome

• The Supreme Court set aside the High Court judgment and restored the order dated 25 March 2022 passed by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Kuzhithurai (MCOP No. 22 of 2016).
• United India Insurance Company Ltd. is directed to pay the compensation amount of Rs 42,63,904 to the appellants within eight weeks from the date of this order.
• No order as to costs was made.
• Any pending applications, if any, stand disposed of.

Topics: Compensation Law, Insurance Liability, Supreme Court Judgment