The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) and insurers have visited Townsville for one-on-one consultations with those affected by last year’s monsoonal deluge “who may be experiencing some challenges in the final steps of flood recovery and rebuilding.”
“Several hundred claims are still being finalised from the 30,702 household, business, and motor vehicle claims worth $1.269 billion, with around 500 claims lodged in the last five months,” said Karl Sullivan, ICA head of risk and operations. “Though several hundred claims are still open, most are open for administration reasons. More than 95% of severely damaged homes are now fully repaired.”
Sullivan said insurers had engaged more than 2,000 local builders, tradespeople, suppliers, and service providers during the recovery and rebuilding process, injecting more than a billion dollars so far into the local economy.
“The ICA and insurers have had a constant presence in Townsville for the past year,” Sullivan said. “Many insurers set up customer service centres, and the ICA has hosted six policyholder meetings and arranged more than 500 consultations between customers and insurers to help resolve issues and accelerate claims handling and rebuilding.”
