Battles for insurance payouts takes a toll on residents in flood-affected areas
The 2016 flood in northern Tasmania was devastating and for some, making insurance claims just added to the trauma. A federal inquiry has been looking into insurers' responses to extreme floods and heard stories from the town that was worst hit.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00On the bank of the Mersey River at La Trobe, Jeff Hazelwood's dairy farm had been through
00:07floods before. But 2016 was different. Jeff's home was flooded, farm machinery was destroyed,
00:14and he lost livestock, including 40 calves and 5 cows.
00:18You know, I looked out and I could see the cows, the first 4 or 5 cows, floating in the
00:22past, and that sort of brought me undone.
00:27Fortunately, Mersey Bank was insured. Or so Jeff thought.
00:31They looked it up on their computer as they do, and they said, oh well, the bad news is
00:36you're not covered.
00:38The Hazelwoods had been paying for farm insurance for 40 years when the flood hit in 2016. Insurance
00:44eventually covered repairs to houses on the farm, but only after Jeff produced a 20-year-old
00:50flood cover policy document, which the company claimed had not been active for a decade.
00:55He said, oh, the letter would have been sent, and I said, well, can we see the letter? And
01:01they couldn't find the letter. So they agreed to pay for the damage on the houses.
01:08After a fight, Jeff had a positive outcome. But Felicity Mannering's florist in La Trobe
01:14was also flooded in 2016, and her claim has never been successful. She believes she had
01:20been paying for the appropriate insurance coverage for the six years she owned the business.
01:25They offer a service, I pay for the service, I don't get the service. Something is very
01:29wrong.
01:30Felicity and Jeff told their stories to a federal government inquiry into flood insurance
01:34when it came to northern Tasmania in July. They want to ensure policyholders are better
01:39informed about flood cover, and for insurance companies to simplify their language.
01:45The Insurance Council of Australia says the industry pays out 96 per cent of claims. But
01:50CEO Andrew Hall says it is engaging with the inquiry, and there is room for improvement.
01:56The inquiry committee is due to report its findings in October.