Insurance companies Allianz, Hollard backflip under pressure after leaving NSW flood victims waiting for help

Two families have been in limbo awaiting outcomes of insurance claims to fix their much-loved homes after the devastating NSW floods. Now, there’s been a breakthrough.

Two northern NSW families, including a couple with a newborn, have waited almost a year for insurance companies to help after they lost their homes in the devastating 2022 floods.

Now, the insurers have finally come to their aid after inquiries were made by News Corp.

Sophie Delaney, 30, has been crammed into a caravan with her partner, baby, nine-year-old daughter and father in-law after the February-March disaster ravaged their Broadwater home

The Delaney's family after the floods in March 2022.

Ms Delaney said her nine-year-old has been staying at her grandparent’s home due to the horror floods and caravan being “traumatising” for her.

“My father-in-law is couch surfing because we can’t all fit in the caravan,” she said.

“If my nine-year-old hears rain she has a meltdown and thinks it’s happening all over again.”

Ms Delaney said the “whole situation destroys me”.

“We can see our neighbours back in their home and they had no insurance,” she said.

“They just self-funded their rebuild … it seems like it would’ve been more worth it.”

Ms Delaney said her insurer Hollard Insurance had not responded to emails or calls since November.

She said it was “strange there are no legal time constraints to settle a claim”.

“There’s a general insurance Code of Practice, but it’s not a law so they can take as long as they want,” Ms Delaney said.

“Its like they don’t care.

The caravan the Delaney's have been sleeping in.

“We’ve been waiting for over a year. We made a complaint to AFCA (Australian Financial Complaints Authority) in September.

“(Hollard) would never respond, it was so rare.”

Hollard would not subsidise the Delaneys to live in the van while awaiting the outcome of their claim until AFCA intervened in August last year.

The insurer was contacted for comment and offered to resolve the claim within 12 hours.

Hollard said it “acknowledges the difficult time Northern New South Wales residents have endured over the past year”.

The company said it “apologises unreservedly if delays have caused hardships for some customers”.

“We are doing our utmost to resolve all outstanding claims and remain in contact with customers who need our assistance, including the Delaneys,” a statement read.

Damage inside the Delaney’s home.

Damage inside the Delaney’s home.

Nick Verlinden, another Broadwater flood victim, said he had been waiting almost a year for his claim with Allianz to be processed.

“This is the eighth time we’ve had someone looking at our case,” he said.

“I’m paying a mortgage on a house I can’t live in. I’m paying my insurance and they won’t cover me.”

The Advocate reached out to Allianz and the insurer said it would push the claim through within the business day.

The Delaney's Broadwater home underwater during the floods early last year.

Allianz stated the company “appreciates the difficult situation Mr Verlinden has experienced over the past few months”.

It was confirmed “Mr Verlinden’s claim has now been resolved, with both home contents and property paid as a total loss”.

AFCA said it received such a high volume of complaints of a similar nature and it was concerned about the number of disputes being escalated.