The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has today declared an Insurance Catastrophe for the strong winds and damaging hail that impacted South East Queensland between Sunday 23 November to Monday 24 November.
Insurers have already received more than 16,000 claims across more than 140 postcodes for this event – to be known as CAT 255.
The ICA’s Catastrophe declaration serves to escalate and prioritise the insurance industry’s response for affected policyholders.
Under the Catastrophe declaration:
- Claims from affected policyholders will be given priority by insurers;
- Claims will be triaged to direct urgent assistance to the worst-impacted property owners;
- ICA representatives will be mobilised to work with local agencies and services and affected policyholders;
- Insurers will mobilise disaster response specialists to assist affected customers with claims and assessments;
- An industry taskforce is established to identify and address issues arising from this catastrophe.
“Insurers’ first priority is community safety, and so we strongly encourage all those impacted by these severe storms to ensure they do not undertake any activity themselves that may put their safety at risk,” said ICA Deputy CEO, Kylie Macfarlane.
“While it’s too early to estimate the insurance damage bill, we expect to see claims numbers continue to rise over the coming days as power returns to homes.
“Our advice to impacted policyholders is to lodge a claim as soon as you can, even if you don’t yet know the full extent of the damage.
“Lodging a claim via insurers’ online portals is generally a quicker and easier way to get the claims process started.
“This event comes off the back of recent widespread rainfall and storm activity across similarly impacted regions, and insurers are focused on processing claims from these events as quickly as possible.
“With more rain predicted over the coming days, we’re also urging residents of Queensland’s southeast corner to remain vigilant and follow the advice of emergency services.”
Ms Macfarlane said insurers are also closely monitoring and prioritising claims across the Northern Territory and Western Australia as a result of Tropical Cyclone Fina. Despite low claims volumes to date, insurers stand ready to support impacted customers, she said.
Information about clean up and the claims process can be found on the ICA’s website: www.insurancecouncil.com.au/DisasterHelp.
