NRMA Insurance have revealed early figures on the numbers of claims made in the wake of the Sydney storms which decimated parts of New South Wales earlier in the week.
The insurer has, so far, received more than 3,400 claims as of yesterday evening from policy-holders around the state.
Following yesterday’s catastrophe announcement from the ICA, and their estimated $129 million toll which is certain to rise, NRMA chief executive, Andy Cornish warned that the full extent of the damage is still unknown.
“While we don’t yet know the full impact of the damage to our customers we know there has been widespread wind and water damage as well as trees falling onto homes,” Cornish said.
Cornish announced that the insurer will up its call-centre staff in a bid to prioritise claims and speed up the process for those in need.
“NRMA Insurance call centres have been busy taking a high volume of calls from customers wanting to lodge motor and home claims.
“We have put 80 additional people on the phones from among our colleagues in NSW and interstate including Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth to ensure we have the best service we can offer.”
“To help reduce waiting times we also have a call back option and the ability for customers to lodge their claims online through nrma.com.au,” Cornish added.
The storm which damaged the state from the Hunter region, throughout Sydney metropolitan area and the Illawarra, has killed at least eight people, according to
news.com.au, and has caused wide-spread damage.
CGU chief executive,
Ben Bessell, said that the immediate responsibility of every insurer in the region was to assist customers wherever possible.
“This means organising temporary accommodation, making existing properties safe and deploying additional staff to our claims centres to keep call waiting times to a minimum,” Bessell said.
Cornish noted that NRMA has already allocated some 3,000 jobs to builders as it looks to help customers recover their losses as quickly as possible.
“We have already allocated more than 3,000 jobs to builders and have organised temporary accommodation as required. We have also deployed more staff to our call centres to help lodge claims.”
