A farm owner who claimed cover failed to reveal his off-road vehicle flipped and injured a passenger because it hit a pig he was chasing during a night-time hunting trip, a court has found. 

The passenger, Stephen Lynch, was staying at the Bredbo Pty Ltd property while completing painting work when he was invited by company director Mark Geoffrey Streeter to go out on the property in the farm vehicle. 

After the accident, a claim against Bredbo by Mr Lynch – who later died of cancer – was resolved for $78,591 including costs. 

But Insurance Australia Limited declined Mr Streeter’s claim for indemnity under a Countrypak policy. 

In the NSW District Court, Judge Judith Gibson said there were two accounts of why Mr Streeter and Mr Lynch were out driving over wet paddocks at night. 

Mr Streeter, in an email to his broker, said he was “driving with the claimant ... to conduct an inspection of the property”, but the insurer said it was a recreational hunting trip excluded by its policy. 

The claim form box for time of day was not ticked, and the form stated the right front tyre sank into a bog or hole causing the vehicle to turn over in the September 9 2022 accident. 

In court evidence, Mr Streeter denied he knew at the time that he had hit a pig. 

Mr Lynch said he was invited to go pig shooting, while Mr Streeter maintained he said: “Would you like to go out and see the property? There is a lot of wildlife out and about at night and we might see kangaroos, pigs. Deer. Goats, as well as the stock.” 

A September 2 text sent by Mr Streeter to Mr Lynch said he was coming down for the weekend and planned to do some shooting. He later texted: “Apparently there are 16+ deer on the top paddock & any pigs we can nuke – also we have licence to reduce the grass thieves (aka kangaroos).” 

Mr Streeter ended up taking his godson and another young person out that weekend and the trip with Mr Lynch was put off until the following week. 

The court judgment says Mr Lynch took two videos on the night, and the first showed how dark it was on the property. 

“Mr Lynch can be heard to say, ‘We’re out shooting pigs and kangaroo’ and, ‘Hopefully we’ll get a shot away and we’ll get a take,’ ” the court decision says. 

The second video shows a herd of pigs running fast in front of the vehicle. There is a thump and the vehicle overturns. Nothing can be seen other than the ground or night sky. Moaning is heard and a transcript shows Mr Lynch saying his leg is broken. 

Judge Gibson says the accident did not stem from Bredbo’s business, Mr Lynch was not an employee and Mr Streeter was not taking him out to inspect the property “or indeed to see any feature of the property, as it was pitch dark”. Instead, it was a recreational hunting trip. 

The decision says Mr Streeter intended to hit the pig, although that was not an easy question to determine. Alternatively, he drove recklessly and misled the insurer. 

The accident description makes no reference to chasing pigs, but the focus was the major contributing factor, whether the vehicle caught its wheels in a bog or not, Judge Gibson says. 

Mr Streeter also omitted to say the vehicle’s passenger-side door was missing, the decision says. 

“I am satisfied that Mr Streeter recklessly chased and struck the pig and that the circumstances of the accident as shown on the video demonstrate that he must have known that he had struck a pig and that this was the reason for the accident,” the judge says. 

“The circumstances in which he stated to the contrary on the claim form while knowing the true situation is of itself sufficient evidence of fraud.” 

The decision is available here.