Think Insurers Can Price Their Way Back From Storms? Think Again
It is 15 months since Tropical Cyclone Debbie smashed Mel Deacon's due north Queensland dwelling simply information technology'southward nonetheless so desperately damaged information technology is unfit to live in — something she blames on a bitter fight with her insurance company.
"This trauma is mode worse than having to deal with the cyclone," she told seven.30.
Next week, when the royal commission into financial services begins its fourth round of hearings, Mel Deacon will be watching closely as it investigates the acquit of insurers after Cyclone Debbie.
Ms Deacon is calling on the imperial committee to make urgent changes to the industry to protect other consumers from what she has had to endure.
'I just tin't afford to surrender'
When 7.30 visited her home in Proserpine this week it was riddled with mould, had widespread water damage and gaps where the roof should exist.
"Simply watching my firm die for xv months, that's what I've been doing," she said.
After the cyclone her insurer, Youi, paid to install a tarpaulin over her damaged roof, simply Ms Deacon claims it caused more damage when it rained.
"The tarpaulin failed, it didn't fit," she said.
Youi refused to fix all of the additional damage and Ms Deacon lodged a dispute with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
In December, FOS constitute in her favour, ordering Youi to obtain new quotes to repair additional harm caused due to the failure of the tarpaulin.
However, Ms Deacon'due south lawyer, Nikki Hancock from the Mackay Community Legal Centre, claims Youi failed to comply with the decision.
A new dispute has now been lodged with the Ombudsman.
"What they did was get ane quotation from 1 builder which was their cheapest builder they had used the unabridged time, and they weren't locally based in the Whitsunday area, and they put that sum of money into her account and said the claim was settled," Ms Hancock said.
Youi has paid Ms Deacon approximately $161,000 and now closed the example, against Ms Deacon's will.
Her local Federal Member of Parliament is the LNP'due south George Christensen.
He told 7.30 he was disturbed by the way Youi had handled her case and would be taking it up with them.
"To say I'thou disappointed is an understatement."
The insurer declined to exist interviewed but said in a statement:
"Ms Deacon has stated that she made a complaint against Youi with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and, to date, Youi has paid her approximately $161,000 pursuant to her merits. This affair is with FOS and awaiting further determination."
All the same, she said the actual price of repairing her home based on a recent quote is more the $270,000 it was insured for.
"Information technology's actually all-encompassing, the actual structure its sagging, the floors take been affected, all the interior walls, information technology's riddled with mould, so the mould issue is really major," Ms Deacon said.
"I've been told, 'Give up Mel, give up it'due south pain yous, it'due south hurting your family, it'south non worth it', and I just can't afford to give up."
'It shouldn't accept an MP' to get action
Kristel and Rod Taylor have had a like struggle against their insurer, Suncorp.
Repair piece of work finally got underway at their abode almost Airlie Beach this week, including on their damaged roof which was at the centre of their merits dispute.
The Taylors allege Suncorp used expert assessments to avoid paying to fix their domicile properly.
"They concluded upwardly cut the scope of works from $34,000 down to about $15,000," Kristel Taylor said.
"They rang me straight away and said we're putting the money in your bank business relationship and I said, no, I want my house fixed to the way it was before the whirlwind."
They say it was just after their local MP, George Christensen, got involved that Suncorp rapidly increased its offer by an additional $100,000.
Mr Christensen said it was one of many complaints he'd had about insurers after Cyclone Debbie.
"Information technology shouldn't take coming to a Member of Parliament," he told 7.xxx.
"When it comes fourth dimension to admission what you lot've been paying for there should be little to no drama whatsoever.
"Merely in the Taylor'southward case there's been a lot of information technology."
Suncorp declined to be interviewed and did not answer any specific questions virtually the Taylor'due south claim.
In a statement it said it had received 20,000 claims after Cyclone Debbie and conceded information technology had let some customers down.
"Finalising all insurance claims for a major effect of this scale takes time, and nosotros work difficult to assistance our customers recover as apace as possible," a spokesperson said in the statement.
"Withal, nosotros acknowledge that in a very small number of cases, our processes accept let u.s. down. We set loftier standards for ourselves and nosotros apologise to any client where our service has fallen short of expectations."
'Over 100 people who still can't go back to their homes'
David Keane has decades of feel in the insurance industry and is now a professional advocate for people contesting their insurers.
He's worked on hundreds of claims from Cyclone Debbie and said while well-nigh claims run smoothly too many people in the Mackay and Whitsunday region take insured homes that remain unliveable.
"There'd exist dozens (of houses) that I'm aware of, that I'1000 personally dealing with, and there would be dozens more than that I'yard personally enlightened of only non acting on," Mr Keane said.
"I would say there are well over 100 people in this area alone who still can't go back to their homes."
He'due south fabricated a submission to the royal committee alleging some insurers are using adept assessments to unethically drive downward the cost of claims beyond what is reasonable.
He acted in one case in the Whitsundays where an insurer initially offered $twoscore,000 earlier the disputed merits was settled for one-half a 1000000 dollars.
"You accept insurance companies who are using their own loss adjustors and in many cases they get the builder to be assessors, to salve them a niggling bit of coin once again, rather than appointing an external assessor," he said.
"The biggest exclusions in most policies remain pre-existing issues, vesture and tear and defects, and then when you read some of these reports regarding consultants or engineers or loss adjustors, they'll focus on every tiny trivial piece of article of clothing and tear or perhaps a tiny little building defect, whether or not it relates to the overall impairment, to say, well, that's non covered."
Insurance company assessors make it 'an unfair system'
Kristel Taylor is calling for the royal commission to make structural changes to the fashion insurance claims are handled subsequently natural disasters.
"The assessment process must be independent of insurance companies and of us as customers, that makes it fair for everyone," she said.
"Those insurance companies have gone to the model where their building supervisors are the assessors and I recall that makes it an unfair system."
"The stress of the insurance companies, it was worse than the cyclone."
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Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-21/cyclone-debbie-victims-still-battling-insurers-15-months-on/9895094
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