Insurers in Australia received 126,511 insurance claims related to the catastrophic flooding in Queensland and New South Wales (NSW), as of March 11. The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) stated that the latest claims count was a 7.2% increase from 118,016 on March 10 – pushing the current estimated claims cost to $1.89 billion.
While monitoring the situation and waiting for new claims related to the devastating weather event in the two states, insurers continue to provide support for affected customers and communities.
Most recently, private health insurer HBF teamed up with its hospital group partners, Ramsay Health Care and St John of God Health Care, to donate $200,000 to the “Australia Unites: Red Cross Flood Appeal” to help affected communities through humanitarian support, enabling volunteers and staff to help with evacuation, relief centres, and outreach services, and building resilience to future weather events. HBF also encouraged around 90 staff in Brisbane to assist in the clean-up effort using their paid volunteering days.
For flood-affected members, HBF offers three months of premium relief on their health insurance under a disaster relief package.
Suncorp CEO Steve Johnston said the insurance giant had established a new dedicated flood response and recovery team by bringing together resources from Australia and New Zealand.
“We recognise the scale of this flooding emergency and the devastating impact it has had on so many people and communities, many of whom are facing a long road to recovery,” Johnston said. “Our dedicated flood response and recovery team is co-ordinating from our Brisbane headquarters, using aerial imagery, real-time data, and on-the-ground insights to help understand impacts to our customers and direct our support to where it is needed.”
Suncorp’s customer support teams have been in recovery hubs since last week – including in Lismore, Mullumbimby, Murwillumbah, Gympie, Ipswich, Caboolture, and Beenleigh – to help customers lodge claims face-to-face and access support.
