A traveller who was not allowed to board his flight after failing to provide proof of his Covid-19 vaccination status has lost his claims dispute.

The complainant says Royal Brunei Airlines staff at Heathrow Airport prevented him and his family from boarding their return flight to Melbourne after the man failed to provide proof of his covid-19 vaccination status to the staff.

The insured says he was forced to arrange an alternative return flight, which required him and his family to wait at the airport for 20 hours. He lodged a claim, under his complimentary credit card travel policy, to cover the costs of the alternative flight. 

AWP Australia says the circumstances of the loss were not covered under the policy’s “unforeseen or unexpected” listed events and declined the claim. 

The complainant says the decision to stop him from boarding the flight was unexpected and “arbitrarily” imposed by a contractor at Heathrow Airport, highlighting that they did not provide documentation that showed that passengers were required to carry proof of vaccination status. 

He says he carried out “reasonable diligence” before the flight and was assured that neither Royal Brunei nor the Brunei Government required travellers to show they were vaccinated.  

But the insurer notes that the airline’s website said it required passengers to provide proof of vaccination for any travel before September 15 last year. It also highlights that the Smart Travel website requires travellers to follow airline travel requirements relating to covid requirements.  

The man argues that the event should be covered by the policy’s coverage for accidents that affect “your mode of transport.”  

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) acknowledged the "unfortunate" circumstances of the event but did not find that the clause responded to the claimed incident, as it referred to events where an accident with the “mode of transport” prevented or delayed it from departing.  

“I accept the complainant being refused entry into the flight was an accident,” AFCA said. “However, I do not accept the complainant’s view that this accident affected his mode of transport.

“An accident did not affect the mode of transport, which was his flight. It affected him personally. This is different.

“The flight proceeded as scheduled without the complainant and his family. Only the complainant and his family were refused entry into the flight because they were unable to provide proof of their vaccination status.” 

AFCA entitled AWP Australia to decline the claim as the complainant had not shown that a claimable event caused the loss.  

The ruling confirmed the insurer should reimburse the complainant’s additional meal expenses caused by the travel delay, as per an agreement in AFCA’s preliminary dispute assessment.  

Click here for the ruling.