Suncorp has hosted its first community forum in Berowra on Sydney’s Upper North Shore, following the catastrophic hailstorms that battered Sydney and many other NSW communities late last month.
Berowra was one of the worst-hit communities in the Dec. 21 hailstorms, which resulted in more than 99,630 insurance claims across the industry.
The Berowra forum was held to provide Suncorp customers with an update on progress, address any queries or concerns, as well as allow them to discuss their claims with client managers face-to-face.
“We know we need to communicate better and be more transparent about how we respond to natural disasters, so we took the initiative to invite customers to the forum and give them the opportunity to speak directly with us,” said Gary Dransfield, Suncorp Insurance CEO. “We had more than 60 customers attend this forum, and based on the positive feedback … we’re already looking at when we can come back to meet with more of our customers in the area.”
Dransfield said Suncorp was aiming to have 80% of all the hailstorm-related roof repairs underway by the end of April and 80% of car repairs scheduled by the end of July.
The insurance boss also warned about unauthorised tradespeople who are out to con affected customers.
“While we’ve seen this behaviour in previous events, particularly hailstorms, we’re noticing these scammers becoming more sophisticated in their approach,” Dransfield said. “Some are going so far as replicating vehicle signage to impersonate authorised builders.”
Dransfield also echoed the Insurance Council’s advice to customers about the use of claims advisors or advocates.
“Our systems are designed for customers to work with us directly, but they can choose to use external advisers, such as claims advocates, at any time,” Dransfield said. “Our experience is there are two types of advocates – the ones that work in the best interest of the customer and those that are leveraging already-vulnerable customers for their own commercial gain. Given this, it is very important that customers are aware of the risks associated with engaging a third party that proactively approaches them, as there will be a cost and it is not covered by the policy.”
Suncorp will host more community forums in the coming months.
