A traveller whose backpack was stolen while she was resting at a beach will not be covered for her loss after the complaints authority ruled the bag was left unattended. 

The woman said she put the bag below her seat at the beach and fell asleep for half an hour. She woke up to find the luggage missing and reported the theft to the police. 

She said the backpack contained “treasured items” and thought it would be safer with her than in her hotel room. She lodged a claim for about $12,202.

Nib Travel Services said its policy would not respond if luggage was left in a public place and could be “taken without your knowledge or at a distance from which you cannot prevent it from being taken”. 

The insurer said the claimant was asleep and could not stop her bag from being taken. 

The claimant later revised the statement that she had been asleep, saying she was “resting her eyes in the beach chair” and could hear everything around her. 

In its ruling, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority says the woman gave “conflicting information as to whether she was asleep or resting at the time of the loss”.

The authority says it is more likely the woman was asleep but adds that “whether the complainant was asleep or resting her eyes, the facts indicate that the complainant’s eyes were closed for approximately half an hour at the time of the theft”.  

It says the loss is not claimable.  

“While the complainant may have been within arm’s reach of her belongings, I accept, on balance, the items were left in a position where they could be taken without her knowledge after she closed her eyes,” an authority ombudsman said.  

“Further, I am not satisfied that the complainant had a reasonable prospect of preventing the items being taken given the duration of time in which her eyes were closed. In the circumstances, the insurer is entitled to rely on the policy exclusion for luggage or personal effects left unattended.” 

Click here for the ruling.