The sudden appearance of kangaroos on the road, causing drivers to swerve and crash into trees, has been at the centre of a number of recent road claim denials by the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), as reported on the Insurance News website. The claims were denied by insurers but then escalated to the AFCA by the claimants, however upon investigation the AFCA found both financial motive and inconsistencies in the evidence provided, and supported the initial decision of the insurers.

In one instance, an Uber driver claimed he had become lost on the way to collect passengers. He did a U-Turn, hitting a kangaroo that appeared suddenly on the road before swerving and crashing into a tree. The man’s car was declared a total loss, however there was no evidence of a kangaroo being hit by the vehicle. His car was insured for an agreed value $7160 more than the market value, and at the time of the crash he had very limited financial means and a gambling habit. Due to inconsistencies in his statement and evidence of a possible financial motive, the AFCA supported the denial of the claim.

In another case involving a 2017 Audi A7, insured for an agreed value of $119,000, the claimant alleged that he was driving in heavy rain when he saw a kangaroo in the middle of the road, causing him to swerve and hit a tree. His statement changed multiple times throughout the investigation, and Suncorp found that the car’s tyres were worn below the minimum required tread depth and that it had been repaired after a previous frontal collision. In dismissing the complaint, the AFCA also noted that the claimant stood to make a windfall of almost $75,000 if Suncorp had accepted his claim, as the car had a pre-accident value of just $45,000.

In a third case, the AFCA ruled that the complainant’s version of how her BMW X5 collided with a kangaroo while driving at night was not supported by forensic evidence gathered by her insurer. They questioned the claimant’s version of events and also the condition of the vehicle at the time of the incident, and took into account that the vehicle was insured for an agreed sum of $37,000 – significantly above the $25,000 she paid for the car, and also well above the estimated market value of $17,000.

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