Across north Queensland, insurers and brokers continue to help customers deal with the impacts of widespread record flooding three weeks ago. The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has put the claims count at more than 7,000 and said that Townsville, Innisfail, Ingham, Gordonvale and Cardwell are among the most affected communities.
Insurance Business recontacted broker Paul Glasby. The Townsville-based business development manager for North Queensland Insurance Brokers (NQIB) has hundreds of customers in Ingham. Two weeks ago his firm was looking for a helicopter or a boat to reach them.
“We waited for the road to open because we needed wheels on the ground,” he said.
The road opened Tuesday of last week. Glasby said he drove up first thing the next morning and reached Ingham for an assessment at 7:30am. He’s still there.
“I’m still staying in Ingham and on the ground, helping lodge claims and attending site visits with assessors and panel builders, restorers and the like,” said the broker.
Glasby said he expects to remain in the town “for as long as it takes.”
When the flood catastrophe started, insurers were quick to announce the dispatch of disaster recovery specialists to north Queensland, including loss adjusters and claims managers. An Insurance Hub was established in Townsville Stadium where, according to the ICA, residents have received guidance from Suncorp, RACQ, IAG, Hollard, Allianz, QBE, and Youi. The ICA has said that two of those insurers established a presence in Ingham on the day the road opened.
IB asked Glasby, as far as he can tell, how physically present are the insurers?
He said some are staying in Ingham and a number of others are commuting daily from Townsville, about 100 km away.
“Some of the motels were damaged, they are doing what they can under the circumstances,” said Glasby.
How would he rate their performance during this disaster so far?
“I would love to name and shame some and provide my genuine honest feedback on some isolated cases, but I will choose not to at the moment,” he said.
Glasby said some are “much more” of a presence than others.
“Obviously, those that have got a large domestic portfolio are very present and a couple of them have been very active,” he said. “The domestic insurers appear to all have had a physical presence at the community hub or other venue.”
Glasby said the commercial insurers are “generally” relying on assessors who are on the ground.
“We've had a number of insurers we deal with, actively engage with our domestic clients to provide emergency payments and also some total loss contents claims payments, plus temporary accommodation,” he said.
Glasby expected most of the home claims to progress because the majority have flood covers.
“The challenges will be getting them assessed in a timely manner, availability of make safes, trades, restorers, repairers and temporary accommodation,” he said. “Those with low building sums insured will create some challenges.”
“Homes are mainly flood inundation and/or rainwater through the roof, damage to buildings and contents - which differs depending on if they are single or double storey properties,” he said.
Glasby said his customers with Business & Farm coverages have damage from multiple causes.
“Those include some floodwater inundation - but mainly rainwater through the roof and ceiling, down windows and walls due to the high volume of rain and high wind,” he said.
A number of his customers, he said, are also filing claims related to damaged refrigerated goods and lost income resulting from the power cuts suffered by the town.
However, the floodwaters that cut off Ingham for more than a week have largely disappeared. Glasby said the centre of the town is cleared.
“There is evidence of water in the surrounding areas but most roads are open now,” he said. “I was able to drive to Forest Beach yesterday [Tuesday], which was cut off for almost two weeks.”
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