Last week Insurance Business reported on the desperate situation faced by brokers dealing with 100s of calls from flood victims.
“I feel really let down by insurers because we’re the client facing frontage for these insurers and we’re the ones having to make these phone calls to the clients who are in incredible distress,” said Daniel Berry, insurance broker with his family firm, Dudgeon Berry Insurance Group. The brokerage serves 100s of customers across the flood zones of northern New South Wales and South-East Queensland.
Berry appealed to insurance companies to offer brokers the mental support services they typically offer their own staff.
Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has heeded the call.
Last Wednesday - the same day IB interviewed Berry – IAG announced it was offering support services to brokers who work with its intermediated brand, CGU.
“Kudos to them, and hopefully others might follow suit,” said Berry in response. The Gold Coast based broker works with CGU.
According to IAG, they’ve partnered with the mental health organisation Assure to offer brokers and their immediate family members access to a free confidential coaching and a counselling service that is available 24/7.
The services include counselling, psychological support, wellbeing coaching, financial coaching, legal and nutritional advice.
“Each broker partner can access up to four one-hour sessions for each family member and all sessions are confidential,” said Damien Gallagher (pictured), CGU’s executive general manager.
Gallagher said IAG first offered this support following the Black Summer bushfires.
“Brokers do an incredible job supporting their clients, particularly when they’ve gone through a traumatic experience such as a natural disaster,” he said.
Gallagher encouraged broker partners to take care of themselves during this difficult time and to consider accessing this service.
When Berry spoke to IB last week he said many of the calls he is taking are from clients who don’t actually have flood insurance but are hoping their existing coverage may help them out in some way.
“At the moment it’s [the flood situation] like a war zone and definitely very traumatic,” he said.
Berry’s family run brokerage has its main office in Lismore. The office was inundated by the flooding. In previous Lismore floods moving furniture and valuable items up to the first floor was enough to protect them. Not this time. Yet he’s had little chance to worry about his own flood damaged business.
The National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) has acknowledged that brokers are on the front line of the community response to the recent floods.
“I know many brokers are already overrun and overwhelmed but at the same time they are there for their clients,” said NIBA CEO Phil Kewin.
Last week, NIBA announced that it would like to establish a claims support initiative. The initiative would involve interested insurance brokers making themselves available to help victims of the recent floods with their insurance claims, if they currently don’t have a broker.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, NIBA recommended free mental health services to its insurance broker members. The services included clinics, tools and guides provided by the Black Dog Institute and the National Mental Health Commission.
Read more: Delving into broker mental health
A recent flood update from the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) reported that insurance companies have now received nearly 120,000 claims related to the SE Queensland and NSW floods. More than 80% of the claims concern property damage.
The ICA estimated the current total cost of all flood claims at $1.77 billion.
“Lismore’s been nuked,” said Chris Dougherty insurance general manager at Westlawn Insurance Brokers’ head office in Grafton.
“I’m 50, been around a while - this is the worst that I’ve ever seen by a long way,” he said.
Dougherty said the impact around Lismore is unprecedented.
“The water’s gone into places where it’s never ever gone,” he said.
CGU brokers and IAG partners can access mental health support services by calling Assure on 1800 001 018 and stating they are a CGU or IAG partner.
