Hotel room not a public place
Grace's* insurer declined her claim for a stolen ring because she had left it in her hotel room.
Grace's* insurer declined her claim for a stolen ring because she had left it in her hotel room.
Grace* arranged travel insurance for a trip to Australia. While she was in her hotel room packing to return home, Grace noticed that her ring was missing. She made an insurance claim.
Grace said she had left the ring on the table in her room, because it didn’t fit on her finger due to the heat. She said she noticed it there all week but, that morning, it was gone. Grace said the only people who could access the room were the cleaning staff.
The insurer declined the claim, saying that Grace had left the ring in a public place.
Grace made a complaint to the IFSO Scheme. The IFSO Scheme looked at Grace’s policy, which had an exclusion for “luggage and personal effects … left unsupervised in a public place.”
The policy defined “public place” as “any place that the public has access to whether authorised or not, including but not limited to … hotels, hotel foyers”.
The IFSO Scheme did not believe the hotel room was a “public place”, as defined in the policy. The fact that cleaning staff could enter the room did not mean it was a “public place” and a hotel room is not the same as “hotels, hotel foyers”. The IFSO Scheme discussed this with the insurer, and it agreed to accept the claim.
Complaint settled
Policy definitions and the natural and ordinary meaning of words are important factors when considering whether exclusions apply.
* Name has been changed