Qantas Travel Insurance & Items falling from overhead lockers

[MALMCK]

My son had a passenger drop a heavy bag from the centre overhead locker on him at the start of an overseas flight which was seen by crew and noted.
When he applied on return to Australia for physio treatment to his injured shoulder Qantas found the incident report but stated they were not responsible as the travel insurance they sold him for the trip only applied when he was overseas and as this happened in Australian air space he did not have cover until they left Australia and they would not accept liability for another passengers actions albeit that the apparent mass of the bag was grossly overweight. This brought up a number of issues in my mind, especially if the aircraft crashed on takeoff, does that mean the insurance they sell on their site has no validity for compensation under those circumstances? Fortunately my son does a lot of gym work and has a solid physique that prevented a more serious injury, if it had landed on a frail person it could have been very dangerous to them. When are Qantas going to start enforcing their stated mass and size limits for carry on luggage to minimize the known hazards that exist in overhead lockers.

 

[mannej]

My son had a passenger drop a heavy bag from the centre overhead locker on him at the start of an overseas flight which was seen by crew and noted.
When he applied on return to Australia for physio treatment to his injured shoulder Qantas found the incident report but stated they were not responsible as the travel insurance they sold him for the trip only applied when he was overseas and as this happened in Australian air space he did not have cover until they left Australia and they would not accept liability for another passengers actions albeit that the apparent mass of the bag was grossly overweight. This brought up a number of issues in my mind, especially if the aircraft crashed on takeoff, does that mean the insurance they sell on their site has no validity for compensation under those circumstances? Fortunately my son does a lot of gym work and has a solid physique that prevented a more serious injury, if it had landed on a frail person it could have been very dangerous to them. When are Qantas going to start enforcing their stated mass and size limits for carry on luggage to minimize the known hazards that exist in overhead lockers.

I guess you need to check the PDS of the policy to see what is covered what isn't, however I guess the actual content is also important rather than the weight alone when it comes to the impact.

Your last statement is a bit of a blanket statement that doesn't really fit in the practical world, as there are practical examples of where common items within carry on weight and size dimensions could do just as much damage.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

i think qantas might be wrong with their interpretation of the policy. If they are correct it's nonsense and should be pursued with the relevant ombudsman.

aside from insurance, the governing rules here are set down by the Montreal Convention.

The Montreal convention covers everything in the process of embarkation onwards (including take off etc). So if there was a crash, you'd be claiming against that. The current issue is a little more complicated because of the involvement of the other passenger.

 

[Spongbob]

If the international TI policy is the standard QBE policy offered by Qantas, then my reading of the PDS shows the policy covers travel from home to the airport (on the departure date) and the return to home (on the arrival date).
Was the claim made to the policy issuer (i.e. QBE)?
Qantas are only the agent (authorised representative) of QBE, and do not issue the TI policy.

 

[ajw373]

I will add to the bush lawer talk. Personally I would have though in this situation ones personal travel insurance would not even come into play. Would have thought it would be Qantas's issue.