Suncorp boss gives update on Barron River flood event
A leading insurer has revealed his stance on a campaign to pause all new development within the Barron River delta until an investigation into the shifting course of the waterway can be completed.
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A leading insurer has backed a campaign to pause all new development within the Barron River delta until an investigation into the shifting course of the waterway can be completed.
In Cairns for the fourth time since the December deluge surged through homes in Caravonica, Holloway and Machans Beach, Suncorp chief executive Steve Johnston gave an update on the progress of claims while addressing the frustrations of some victims still waiting to return to their homes.
At the top of the concerns list for flood victims anxiously awaiting the arrival of disaster season was the use of tradies from the southeast corner, a two-week delay in assessors getting into the disaster zone, rising insurance premiums and the dragging out of repair work.
The ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper event resulted in 9950 claims being lodged, costing $357m.
Mr Johnston said of the 2670 Suncorp claims, 2275 have been finalised, a completion rate of about 85 per cent.
“There’s some areas where we’ve had difficulty, pinch points around availability of labour, tradespeople, even us, so it’s been an industry-wide issue,” he said.
Of the 15 per cent of unfinalised claims, around half were in progress and were expected to be wrapped up before Christmas, which left a group Mr Johnston described as “stubborn” claims.
“(They’re the) difficult ones where there may be some pre-existing maintenance issues that need to be fixed first by the customer before we can make the repair,” he said.
“Or there’s areas where we’re in disagreement with the customer, around the scope of the work, (but) they will be a small number, very small number.”
Mr Johnston said if local tradespeople were unable to be sourced for repair work, subcontractors from the southeast were bought in but had to be fully accredited to ensure the high standard work needed so Suncorp can give customers a lifetime guarantee on the remediation work.
He said access issues were the cause of a delay getting assessors on the ground initially.
“We can’t get in there, safety wise, until we’re given the appropriate approvals … we redeployed them up to Townsville even to get them closer (and) as soon as we had access, we were in,” he said.
A moratorium on development within the river delta called for by the Barron Floodplain Action Group was something the Mr Johnston wholeheartedly agreed with.
A research paper published in 1980 predicted that Thomatis Creek would eventually become the main mouth of the Barron River in a natural process known as river channel migration but an up-to-date study has never been undertaken.
The action group, headed by former Mulgrave Shire councillor Ross Parisi, has advocated for a $150,000 flood modelling study of the Barron River delta which factors in climate change knowledge, however the plan has been met with a lukewarm reception.
“Where we’ve had a flood event, where we’ve had flood loss, it’s absolutely appropriate to stop building, stop doing things until we really understand how we can mitigate these events,” Mr Johnston said
“The risk of flooding there, which might have been one in 100 years before, might be now one in 20 and it’s going to be difficult for people to get insurance and if you can’t get insurance, you can’t get a home loan.”
In terms of insurance affordability, the Suncorp boss called on the government to improve flood mitigation infrastructure, give more subsidies, stop building homes where they shouldn’t be built, and an end to slugging taxes and charges on premiums.
He said stamp duty and GST adds 20 to 30 per cent to insurance premiums.
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Originally published as Suncorp boss gives update on Barron River flood event
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