Brisbane flood hit residents outraged following never ending insurance saga

Fuming Brisbane Residents left in flood limbo have taken aim at a major insurance provider for its “nightmare” handling of flood-claim payouts which it outsourced to third parties.

Outraged Brisbane residents have taken aim at insurance provider Allianz for its “heinous” handling of flood-claim payouts after months of delays, miscommunication and uncertainty.

In the aftermath of the catastrophic late-February event, many flood-smashed property owners say they remain in limbo.

Some of the hardest hit suburbs included Rocklea – which has become a ghost town with dozens of properties abandoned – and Oxley, Corinda, Kedron and Graceville.

It comes as new data from the Insurance Council of Australia showed the floods across the South East and Northern New South Wales caused $4.8bn in insured damages, the third costliest extreme weather event in Australia’s history.

Corinda single mother of three Alison Lees with her boys Tomas, 12, James, 10 and Ben, 14 at their home that was destroyed by the recent floods. Picture: Nigel Hallett

The residents took aim at provider Allianz Insurance for being “incompetent”, outsourcing its claims to third parties and being a “nightmare” to deal with.

Corinda resident Alison Lees’ brick home was gutted by ceiling-high floodwaters which could require a full rebuild and if possible, be raised up.

The single mother of three said she was in the dark on whether Allianz would honour her claim or whether she’d be able to apply for a government grant.

“What do I do? I wait to see if they honour our payments or wait to rebuild, or they tell me it’s more than what I’m covered for,” Ms Lees said.

Single mother of three Alison Lees said she was one of the fortunate ones to find a rental. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Ms Lees said she had been lucky to secure a rental but was unsure how long the weekly repayments would be reimbursed for.

“I’m basically in a holding pattern of not know where I stand,” Ms Lees said.

“They’ve told me my rental reimbursements are only covered for a certain time too.

“If they rebuild, I don’t know when we would be able to move in, maybe next year but who knows.”

Ms Lees said all she could do was “wait and hope”.

“A week before the floods hit my house was valued at $800,000 but I’d hate to think what it is now,” she said.

“When you add in an extra level of having to deal with a third party, it’s just another step where things are getting lost or going wrong, it’s very frustrating.”

Kedron resident Julianne Staggs’ property on Royal Parade sustained about $50,000 in damages, which most have been covered, only because of she said she stayed on their case.

Ms Staggs estimated to have spent more than 45 hours on the phone and send “hundreds” of emails to Allianz who she described as being “heinous”.

“They’ve been incredibly difficult and inefficient to deal with. I ended up having to physically go into the office in the city before someone listened,” Ms Staggs said.

“It’s been extremely stressful. And they outsource to terrible companies.

“They told me they were understaffed, but this happened during Australia’s disaster season.”

The Allianz spokeswoman said it had paid out $65m in claimants in Brisbane but did not respond when asked how many were outstanding.

The spokeswoman said Allianz acknowledged the unprecedented scale of the flood event has put pressure on resources which had resulted in delays in communications with customers.

She said often used external loss adjuster firms when handling claims following catastrophic events.

Kedron Brook pathway after flooding in Brisbane. Picture Sean Callinan

“Many customers chose not to include flood cover in their insurance policy, however, they still have cover for rainwater run-off and flash flooding,” the spokeswoman said.

“It is important to Allianz that customers receive the maximum policy benefits to which they are entitled.

“This requires Allianz to obtain hydrology reports to assess the extent to which water inundation at a property was caused, for example, by rainwater run-off, which would be covered, or by ‘riverine’ flooding, which would not be covered if the customer chose not to take out flood cover. The demand and supply imbalance in hydrology services is also causing delays.”

Damage inside Alison Lees’ Corinda home months on from the floods. Picture: Nigel Hallett

A Queensland Department of Energy and Public Works spokesman said more than 3100 people had registered for the $741m resilient homes fund to help flood-affected homeowners across the South East.

It included 391 people who registered interest in the voluntary buyback scheme, 1072 for house raising and 1145 for retrofit. There were 563 people unsure.

The Allianz spokeswoman said it had brought in extra resources to support.