Catastrophe insurance extended for flood victims.

With the recent extreme weather in Queensland and New South Wales, we’re only just beginning to see the scale of the rebuilding job ahead.

Insurers have received almost 15,000 claims related to extreme rainfall since February. In response, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has extended an ‘insurance catastrophe declaration’ to New South Wales, following on from declaring the same for Southeast Queensland.

The declaration of an insurance catastrophe means the industry will escalate and prioritise claims from affected policyholders – essentially making sure money gets to those who need it most urgently, as quickly as possible.

As waters subside and the damage is assessed, Brisbane-based insurer Suncorp has already predicted the disaster will trigger over 44,000 claims. With this many homes and businesses in need of their insurance safety net to begin recovering and rebuilding, the need for a fast response is clear.

On top of this, the insurance industry will triage claims to direct help to the worst-affected property owners first. They are also mobilising disaster response specialists to assist affected customers with their claims and assessments.

The move to declare a catastrophe isn’t one the industry takes lightly, but feels will become increasingly relevant in coming decades. Australia has seen years of wild weather conditions battering its communities beyond the recent flooding, and the fear is that this will become increasingly normal.

Insurers have already warned that the effects of climate change will likely continue to bring extreme weather conditions – heavier rainfall and more intense cyclones being just two examples of this.

This, in turn, will mean more damage, more pain, and more need for insurers to act quickly to assist.

As part of the insurance catastrophe declaration and the acceleration of responding to policyholders in affected areas, the insurance industry has established a task force. The group’s job will be to identify and address issues arising from the extreme weather conditions to guide the response.

In addition to this, and in light of industry predictions about similarly damaging weather events in the future, the ICA has published ‘Building a More Resilient Australia’.

This federal election policy platform calls on Australian governments to double Federal funding to $200 million every year to shore up infrastructure. That adds up to a $2 billion investment over the next five years.

The recovery from the flooding in Queensland and New South Wales will be a long process – one the trade industry will be heavily involved with.

While the insurance catastrophe declaration may not have direct implications for your business unless you yourself are a claimant, your work will likely see the results.

As emergency services declare it safe to do so, ICA representatives are already beginning to work with local agencies, services and affected policyholders to assess how best to keep the rebuilding effort moving.

As an industry, it’s worth knowing these efforts are being made, and taken seriously. While the response to any disaster of this scale is rarely smooth, this declaration will help to ensure the rebuilding process can begin as soon as possible, with the reassurance that the money is there to make it happen.

We have a long way to go, and potentially more disasters to face in coming years, but this declaration is a big step towards helping the communities around us recover.