A policyholder whose car was wrecked during a police chase will not be covered for his losses, the dispute authority has ruled.

The man’s vehicle was taken without his permission and crashed with a caravan during the pursuit, leaving it a write-off.

Suncorp declined the claim on the basis the owner did not provide accurate information about his criminal history when taking out the policy in January 2023. It also noted the loss was caused by reckless driving, which the policy did not cover.

The claimant was convicted of fraud-related offences in November 2020, and the insurer said if it had been aware of that, it would not have offered him insurance.

But the Australian Financial Complaints Authority notes the policy documents asked if the claimant had “committed any criminal act” within the past three years.

It says the policyholder was charged in 2019 and, therefore, committed the offence before January 2020. As such, it says, the man did not make a misrepresentation.

However, AFCA accepts Suncorp’s assessment that reckless actions caused the loss, noting the driver was found guilty of serious driving offences relating to the incident.

The complainant said it was unfair to deny the claim because the vehicle was taken without his permission.

But AFCA says “a lack of permission the driver had does not prevent the policy exclusion from being triggered”. It notes the owner previously allowed the driver to use the vehicle, and he did not report it stolen when it was taken.

“I acknowledge the complainant says that the driver did not have permission to drive the vehicle,” an authority ombudsman said.

“However, this does not assist the complainant, as the commercial intention of the exclusion is not to cover the vehicle where the driver is acting recklessly. The policy does not stipulate this is only when the vehicle is driven with the owner’s permission.”

The ruling also rejects the policyholder’s bid to have Suncorp pay for the cost of vehicle registration, missing items and compensation over its handling of the claim.

Click here for the ruling.