A farmer who lodged a claim after 17 of his cattle died in February 2020 has lost a dispute with IAG.

The insured, who held a farm policy with IAG which covered loss caused by fire, said bushfires led to road closures which prevented him from accessing his farm and refilling water troughs.

This led to some of his cattle dying of dehydration, he said.

IAG did not accept the death of the cattle was caused by the fires and denied the claim, which was being managed by the farmer’s broker.

The Australian Finanancial Complaints Authority (AFCA) backed the insurer, saying the roads were only closed for non-essential travel and as tending to livestock was essential, the farmer would have been allowed through the roadblocks to access his farm.

“The roads were only closed for a few hours, which is not long enough to have caused the cattle to die of dehydration,” AFCA said.

“The complainant has not provided evidence showing that the cattle died from dehydration, smoke inhalation or any other cause that can be linked to the bushfires.”

On January 10 2020, the man visited the farm and filled troughs with enough water for three weeks, which would have lasted to the end of January.

The 17 deceased cattle he found when he eventually returned to the farm died on or about February 10, he suggested, saying he had been unable to return to replenish the troughs because there were bushfires in the area and the roads were closed.

The farmer had called a neighbour on February 1 and asked him to refill the troughs. The neighbour said he tried to drive to the farm but was stopped by a police roadblock.

AFCA says an email the farmer sent his broker on February 2 asking for more detail about his claim “indicates he knew the cattle were dead by February 2 2020” - eight days before his own estimate for the timing of the deaths.

“The complainant says the farm was inaccessible on February 1 2020 but he was discussing this claim with his broker by February 2 2020,” AFCA said.

AFCA said it asked the farmer how he knew the cattle were dead if he could not access the farm but he “has not responded”.

The farmer failed to supply several pieces of information requested by AFCA, including what steps he took to check the cattle during the month to February 10, whether he made any attempts to access the farm besides asking his neighbour to visit, when he visited his farm and when he discovered the death of the cattle.

“He has not provided this information, or an explanation for why he cannot provide the information. The complainant has not established that his farm was inaccessible,” AFCA said.

“He has not provided evidence that further attempts would have been unsuccessful. He says the cattle died on or about February 10 2020 but he has not said when he discovered this.”

Police said roadblocks would not have prevented access to the farm as closures in the area were for less than three hours, and only for non-urgent or non-essential travel.

The IAG policy required that any claim for the death of livestock provide proof of the cause of death, including a veterinary certificate.

The farmer provided photographs of the dead cattle but disposed of the carcasses without consulting an expert, saying the fires and evacuation orders meant it was unlikely a vet would be able to attend.

He disposed of the carcasses quickly as they could have attracted wild animals such as foxes which would have threatened his remaining livestock, he said.

Other than the pictures, he did not provide any other evidence of the cause of death.

AFCA said the farmer needed to "establish that the death of the cattle was caused by fire” and this had not been achieved.

"The complainant has not established a claimable loss and the insurer is entitled to deny the claim,” it said.

See the full ruling here.