Community
13 December, 2024
Claims soar to $401m
INSURANCE claims relating to Cyclone Jasperr and the subsequent flooding event has soared to $401 million.
An Insurance Council of Australia spokeswoman said 10,398 claims had been lodged, averaging $38,600, with the closure rates approaching 85 per cent.
“Insurers acknowledge that recovery following Tropical Cyclone Jasper has been challenging. This is largely due to complex damage caused by flooding, storm surge and damaging winds,” she said.
“Insurers also faced complex assessment processes as the damage caused by the cyclone and flooding varied and meant that insurers had to deploy hydrologists and specialised assessors. Early access to many impacted properties was impacted by severe landslides and road damage.
“Most of the claims that remain open are well progressed with current closure rates where we would expect them to be one year on from an event of this scale.
“Since the event, insurers have held 11 community consultation events across the Cairns and Douglas local government areas, and provided targeted support to Cook and Cassowary council areas, offering impacted policyholders an opportunity to meet face-to-face with their insurer and talk through the claims process.”
A Suncorp spokeswoman said as of December 6, 87 per cent of claims received following ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper had been finalised.
“The event resulted in 2676 home, motor and commercial insurance claims, costing more than $120m,” she said.
“Our team are working to finalise the 345 remaining claims, of which 276 are home claims.
“These claims are typically more complex and require expert reports such as hydrology and engineering, which can extend the rebuild timeframe.
“With four extreme weather events declared this year, compared to none at this time last year, Queensland is gearing up for a potentially severe wet season.
“Heavy rainfall and storms are predicted for December and January, as well as cyclones in the north, northwest and northeast of the country.
“Our new disaster management centre in Brisbane will be essential in helping our team stay prepared and to respond effectively to these challenges – including potential cyclones.”
Sure Insurance received a total of 3095 household claims from Tropical Cyclone Jasper, TC Kirilly and subsequent flooding across Cairns and the Far North.
Sure Insurance managing director Bradley Heath said “we have to date resolved close to 90 per cent of these claims and have made more than $100m in payments to customers for emergency assistance, temporary accommodation, household repairs and settlements”.
“Cyclone and flood claims continued to be lodged well after the events, with approximately nine per cent (286) of claims received onwards from March 2024.
“Of the 341 remaining open claims – Sure Insurance has authorised repairs on 235 properties.
“In respect of the 106 claims where repairs have not yet been able to be authorised, we are in continuing discussions and working closely with our affected customers to achieve mutually acceptable outcomes, resolving scope/cost issues to authorise or cash settle their repairs as soon as possible.”
An RACQ spokeswoman said as of December 10, 2024, 88.5 per cent of their claims related to Jasper had been finalised, with the total cost of claims exceeding $23m.
“We are working closely with our members and partners to progress the remaining claims, most of which are complex home repairs related to flood inundation or requiring specialist involvement, as quickly and efficiently as possible,” she said.
