ICA declares catastrophe for NSW flooding

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has declared a catastrophe for the devastating storms and flooding in large parts of New South Wales (NSW).

After the bushfires, Australians and their insurers now have to deal with severe weather and flooding in NSW – particularly around the Mid-North Coast and Hawkesbury-Nepean.

As part of the ICA’s Catastrophe Declaration, the regulator expects insurers to prioritise affected policyholders. Therefore:

• Insurers will prioritise claims from affected policyholders.
• Claims will be triaged to direct urgent assistance to the worst-affected property owners.
• The ICA has activated its disaster hotline – 1800 734 621 – to assist policyholders if they are uncertain of their insurance details or have general inquiries about the claims process (this is not a claims lodgement service.)
• ICA representatives will work with local agencies and services and affected policyholders as soon as emergency services say it is safe to do so.
• Insurers will mobilise disaster response specialists to assist affected customers with claims and assessments as soon as emergency services say it is safe to do so.
• ICA has established an industry taskforce to identify and address issues arising from the catastrophe.

ICA chief executive officer Andrew Hall said it is still too early to understand the extent of the extreme weather event’s damage to property in affected areas and estimate the insurance damage bill. However, insurers have already received over 5,000 claims in the past few days.

“The insurance industry has made this Catastrophe Declaration to activate services and support for affected homeowners and businesses and reassure them that their insurer is there to help,” said Hall. “As many areas are currently inaccessible due to floodwater, insurers are expecting further claims in coming days as emergency services allow residents to return to their properties to examine the extent of their damage and losses.”

Some insurers have started supporting affected customers – with IAG ramping up its claims team to ensure customers receive support as quickly as possible, including finding emergency accommodation and decreasing call wait times for those wanting to lodge a claim.

Commenting on the NSW flooding, IAG CEO and managing director Nick Hawkins said: “We know this is a very stressful time for those affected by the severe weather we are experiencing. Our immediate focus is on the safety of all the communities impacted by this heavy rain and flooding, and we urge everyone to follow the directions of the emergency authorities.

“We now have additional resources in place to help our customers get back on their feet, and we encourage customers to contact us to lodge their claim as soon as possible so we can organise immediate assistance. As soon as it’s safe to access the impacted areas, we’ll have our teams on the ground to begin the assessment and repair process, but our customers can access immediate help, including emergency accommodation, as soon as they contact us.”

Over 2,100 claims had been lodged with IAG as of 8pm on March 21, covering mainly property damage. However, it is still too early to accurately determine the net cost of the flooding and storms.