A Queensland man who was shot by police after brandishing a “toy gun” has lost his bid for an insurance payout over bullet damage to his car.

The shooting happened when the man returned home from buying a gel gun and found police at the property. A day earlier, the man’s ex-partner, who was living at the house with their children, had obtained a domestic violence order against him.

The man parked in the driveway and took cover behind his car with the gel gun. Officers opened fire, hitting the man and the vehicle.

He later pleaded guilty to a charge of “serious assault police officer while pretending/is armed with a weapon”, plus eight domestic violence offences from the months before the shooting. 

Allianz declined the man’s car policy claim because the vehicle was damaged while “being subjected to a criminal act”. 

The insurer referred to the man’s guilty plea and a police-affiliated news outlet that said officers visited the home after the man “made threats to harm other people known to him”. 

The claimant said he took cover behind the car for “safety reasons”, noting his “military training kicked in” and that it was “not illegal to own a gel gun or have it out on my own property”.

He acknowledged the “toy gun” looked like a real weapon but said he did not point it at police.

In a dispute ruling, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority accepts Allianz’s decision to deny the claim, saying the man “used the car in the commission of a criminal offence” by hiding behind it while threatening police.

“Having considered the information provided by both parties, I am satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the complainant committed a criminal offence by threatening police with a gel gun,” an authority ombudsman said.

“It is fair to say the damage to the car arose from the car being subjected to a criminal act. Therefore, the insurer is entitled to apply the exclusion to deny the claim.”

Click here for the ruling.

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