Wooden cupboard not safe to keep valuable things: Consumer forum

Vadodara: A cupboard is neither equivalent to nor an alternative to a strong room, and a wooden cupboard is not considered a safe place to keep valuables, ruled a Vadodara consumer forum while dismissing the complaint of a businessman whose house was burgled.Transport businessman Harsh Lathiya, a partner in Gemini Carrier, had filed a complaint against New India Assurance Company Ltd before the Vadodara Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Jan 2020.
The complainant stated that he required cash daily to run his business and meet routine expenses, and therefore purchased an insurance policy with special conditions to cover business cash of up to Rs 5 lakh kept at the owner's/partner's residence.In May 2018, his firm's partner, Nirav Lathiya, was getting some furniture work done at his home. The carpenter allegedly left midway on some pretext, and later Nirav learned that his house had been burgled, allegedly by the same carpenter. The accused broke open a drawer of a cupboard in the bedroom and stole Rs 4 lakh in cash.A police complaint was filed, and the complainant also sought an insurance claim from the company. However, the insurer rejected the claim, citing a policy clause stating that it would not be responsible for losses occurring on the premises after business hours unless the money was kept in a locked safe or strong room.The insurance company argued that the complainant was required to take reasonable steps to safeguard the property and ensure that the cash was kept in either a safe or a strong room.The forum observed that a locked safe is a robust, secure, and lockable container—typically made of metal—designed to protect valuables from theft, fire, and damage, and features a complex locking mechanism. "No doubt, a wooden cupboard drawer with a lock is safer than an unlocked one for deterring casual access, but it is not completely secure against determined intruders. Professional burglars can bypass most furniture locks with tools like screwdrivers or crowbars; it is about increasing difficulty, not impossibility. A wooden cupboard is not considered a safe place to keep valuable things," the forum observed."The complainant kept office cash in a cupboard that is not equivalent to, or an alternative to, a strong room. Under such circumstances, there is no deficiency in service on the part of the opponent. The complainant's claim is not maintainable," the forum said while dismissing the complaint.