A cattle farm that lost more than 100 unborn calves in a disease outbreak will not receive a payout after the complaints authority determined its insurance did not cover foetuses.

The farm reported the loss in 2022 after a confirmed case of campylobacter venerealis – a disease that causes abortion – among a herd of 160 breeding cows.

The claim for 113 unborn calves was filed under the farm policy’s catastrophe benefit, which covers “a catastrophe to your cattle ... due to an accidental loss or animal disease if this results in their death or necessary slaughter”.  

But insurer Achmea said it did not consider a foetus to be a calf, which it said was a “young, unsexed and unweaned bovine animal born from a cow’s uterus”.  

The claimant argued the foetuses, some of which were near- or full-term, should be covered, noting Meat & Livestock Australia considers all reproductive losses after a breeding cow is confirmed pregnant to be “calf losses”.

In a dispute ruling, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority acknowledges the policy itself did not define “calves” but that “ordinary dictionary definitions and the general use of the term are more consistent with the insurer’s definition – that is, a calf is a young, unsexed and unweaned bovine animal born from a cow’s uterus”.

AFCA also says the policy was structured in a way that did not cover foetuses, noting it insured only 125 cattle.  

“If the intention was for foetuses to be included as cattle, then it would have been reasonable to expect the number would have been doubled to ensure the insurer was on risk for all of them.”  

See the ruling here.