Black Summer survivors get legal help to fight insurance claims
A $5 million fund will give bushfire victims access to free legal advice to help them battle tedious insurance claims or gain access to social security.
NSW
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Families and business owners who lost their homes and livelihoods in the Black Summer bushfires will have access to almost $5 million in legal support to get back on their feet.
The federal funding will be announced on Sunday to help those people battle insurers, tenancy issues, financial hardship and social security entitlements.
About $2 million will go towards a Legal Aid NSW grants program, allowing private lawyers to deliver free advice to businesses impacted by the fires.
Tammie Jee, 42, and her husband Brett Jee, 45, lost their house outside Cobargo when bushfires tore through the area on New Year’s Eve.
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Mrs Jee’s parents, who lived next door on McDonald Rd at Wandella, also lost their home in the fire, as did her younger brother.
“We would have lost our lives if we stayed to defend our house,” Mrs Jee said.
“We had gravity-fed water from a tank that melted in the fire, so we would not have been able to defend our house if we stayed.”
Six months later, the couple are still living in temporary accommodation with their four sons, Blake, 17, Mason, 14, Myles, 13, and Beau, 11.
The rubble from their home, including an asbestos-lined caravan, was finally removed last week, making way for the rebuild to begin pending council approval.
But if it was not for Legal Aid, the Jees would have been cheated out of the $5000 it cost for that clean-up.
“The government supplied the clean-up for free,” Mrs Jee said. “But the insurer tried to keep the $5000 in our coverage for the clean-up, even though we were supposed to get that money for the rebuild.
“Thanks to Legal Aid we got the $5000 back and a further $350 of excess we were not supposed to pay.“
NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman said the $4.9 million Bushfire Funding Agreement was great news for anyone whose livelihood was torn apart by bushfires.
Originally published as Black Summer survivors get legal help to fight insurance claims