A man whose parents’ flights to Australia from Israel were cancelled following the October 7 attacks has lost a dispute over his insurer’s decision not to cover their costs.

The complainant provided itinerary information showing his father was scheduled to travel from Tel Aviv to Amman then Bangkok and Melbourne on October 12 last year, with his mother taking the same route on October 22.

The man said the airline cancelled the flight from Tel Aviv to Bangkok on October 10, which led him to cancel the connecting flight between Bangkok and Melbourne.

He asked Chubb to pay out $2437 for the cancelled flights. The insurer relied on an exclusion relating to losses caused by war and terrorist acts, noting the complainant wrote on the claim form that the flights were cancelled because of the conflict in the region.

Chubb’s policy stipulated it would not cover costs from “declared or undeclared war or any act committed by an agent of any government, party or faction engaged in war” or “an act of terrorism”.

The claimant told the Australian Financial Complaints Authority the airline could not fly into Tel Aviv due to the conflict, which he called a “civil riot”.

But the authority says the attacks in Israel met the definition of a terrorist act.

“Even if I accept the attack in Israel was a civil commotion as claimed by the complainant, I am satisfied it was also a terrorist act,” an AFCA ombudsman said.

“Accordingly, I am satisfied the insurer is entitled to rely on the exclusion of costs arising from an act of terrorism to decline the claim.”

Click here for the ruling.