A traveller who cancelled her trip to Marrakech after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the Atlas Mountains has lost a claim dispute.

The woman’s attempts to contact her accommodation provider to find out if the location was safe to visit were unsuccessful.

Feeling it was risky to travel and taking the non-response to mean infrastructure had broken down, she cancelled her flights. The decision was also based on advice on the Smart Traveller website, the reported risk of aftershocks and news reports.

The woman’s Lloyd’s Australia travel insurance policy covered journeys disrupted by transport being cancelled, delayed, shortened or diverted because of several listed events, including natural disasters. 

But Lloyd's declined her claim, saying she was not prevented from travelling to Morocco.

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority says while the earthquake was “unexpected, unintended and outside of her control”, matching policy wording, the flights and accommodation were not cancelled by the operators, so her claim was not covered.

It says her cancellation of the trip five days before she was due to travel fell within a policy exclusion for changing travel plans.

“There is no information to show, either at the time of cancellation or afterwards, tourists could not travel to Morocco between the complainant’s proposed travel dates or that it would have been unsafe to do so,” an AFCA ombudsman said.

“I acknowledge the complainant’s concerns that it was unsafe to travel, and she may have not been able to do anything if she had proceeded with her original travel plans to Marrakech. I accept the situation was not conducive for travel and she was cautious and took a decision to cancel her trip based on the information available.”

The traveller left Sydney for Paris on September 5 last year and was scheduled to go to Morocco on September 14, for four days. The quake struck on September 8.  

Marrakech buildings were damaged or collapsed in the disaster, and experts said aftershocks were likely for a couple of days. The US Geological Survey reported that “due to the shallow depth of the event and its proximity to high population centres, many buildings experienced severe shaking that can result in catastrophic failure. 

“If you have a trip to Marrakech or the Atlas Mountains booked in the next couple of weeks, accommodation and tours may also be an issue.”

The woman provided AFCA with footage showing damage to the city and people being forced to sleep outdoors.

Lloyd’s said the quake’s epicentre was about 70km southwest of Marrakech, and Smart Traveller advised to avoid travelling to that area – not Morocco as a whole – and that “individuals inform themselves of the risks and take responsibility for their decisions”.  

See the ruling here.