A traveller who said a room guest drugged and robbed him while he was holidaying in Colombia has lost a bid to have additional items covered by his insurer.

The man said he invited the person to his room for a drink but was spiked and later woke to find items had been stolen.

Insurer Chubb agreed to cover clothing and glasses but refused to pay for valuables including a laptop, phone, tablet and Fitbit, and cash.

The insurer said its travel policy excluded loss of money or valuables from accommodation “unless evidence is available of unauthorised entry”.

In a dispute ruling, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority accepts the exclusion applies because the policyholder allowed the thief into the room. 

It also notes the man provided no toxicology test results showing he was drugged and gave differing information about where the stolen items were kept.

The claimant argued the losses should fall under the policy’s “stolen from you” cover rather than “stolen from locked accommodation”.

But AFCA disagrees, saying the cover the man sought to rely on fell under the same policy heading as the cover applied.

It says the exclusion applied to all events that fell under this coverage, unless otherwise directed.

“The insurer is entitled to rely on the exclusion for loss of money and valuables from the complainant’s accommodation where there was no unauthorised entry, whether the claim was lodged under the ‘stolen from locked accommodation’ or ‘stolen from you’ event.”

See the ruling here.