Brisbane floods 2022: 31,000 in limbo awaiting rebuild

After a year of limbo, Queensland flood victims are now facing the prospect of homelessness as temporary accommodation expires.

Taylah Fellows

3 min read

February 27, 2023 - 10:58AM

Thousands of Queensland flood victims still waiting on government assistance

QLD News

Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD News. Followed categories will be added to My News.

A year has passed since the devastating flood event that tore through South East Queensland, and more than 31,000 people remain stuck in a nightmarish limbo, waiting for insurance repairs to their homes.

Latest claims data revealed insurers received 114,650 claims totalling $2.9bn over the past 12 months as Queenslanders picked up the flood-ridden pieces of their lives.

A year on, displaced residents are still scrambling to find rentals, couch surfing, or in some cases, are moving back into their flood-damaged homes, with many now also facing homelessness due to expiring temporary accommodation agreements and minimal rental availability during the state’s housing crisis.

Nick Davhill, of Brisbane’s Fairfield, is one of those Queenslanders.

Flooding at Nick Davhill’s Fairfield house

“We’ve moved 10 times in year,” he said.

“We’ve been given six different end dates and now the insurers are talking about not giving us any more accommodation because we only get a year, even though its their fault for the delay.

“We’re about to get kicked out of this place at the end of March because the house won’t be ready.

“I have no idea where I’m going to go. I’m wrecked, quite honestly.”

The constant moving has taken a huge toll on Mr Davhill’s two children, aged seven and 12, who became “highly anxious and withdrawn” – his eldest recently placed on antidepressants.

“I’ve had to take a week off work to look after my son and really my own mental health as well,” he said.

“I have no control whatsoever over when things are done, the quality, and I’m the owner of the house.

Loretta Davis is a single mother of three still living in a flood-damaged house in Graceville. Picture: Tertius Pickard

“We understood lack of tradies, supply etc, but they actually have done very little and have made multiple mistakes; shocking communication and the lack of care and compassion has been astounding.”

“Honestly, I have no confidence certain things in the scope of works will ever be done, the builders are just not across the detail. It‘s a nightmare.”

Loretta Davis was kicked out of her accommodation two weeks before Christmas and is now living back in her mould-infested Graceville home.

“I’ve had eight case managers, at least seven makesafes (roof covers), gone through three rounds of disputes...” she said.

“I burnt through $35,000 of my temporary accommodation money because I didn’t understand it was my allowance, and two weeks before Christmas I was out of rental options and no work at all had been done to my house.

Flooding at Nick Davhill’s Fairfield house

“They hadn’t even stripped it out; there’s black mould everywhere.

“They know I’m back living in the house but I still don’t have an agreed scope of works.

“Not a single tradesperson has attended.”

After a relationship breakdown, Ms Davis quickly nabbed what she thought was the perfect home for her and her three children, one of whom has a learning disorder and requires a service dog.

“My insurer said because were a vulnerable family, we couldn’t be placed anywhere,” she said.

“If I had a gazillion dollars and won lotto, I’d knock it down and rebuild myself but I’m a single mum.

Nick Davhill and his family have moved 10 times in the past year after their Fairfield home flooded.

“I don’t know what they wanted me to do, if they wanted more reports or information I would have given it to them straight away, I’m not trying to defraud anyone I’ve declared everything.”

Fed-up residents now too exhausted to continue their year-long insurance battle have engaged lawyers to help progress their claims.

Claims mediator Luke Dudgell said many of his clients were nervous about their looming temporary accommodation expiration dates or living back home in “unideal” conditions.

Others, he said, had been confused about their policy options and felt pressured to take low cash settlements.

“When I get involved I request the entire claim file and when reading the notes, I see all the stuff that’s just wrong, they’ve said it wrong, and you understand why the clients are confused,” he said.

Flooding in Nick Davhill’s Fairfield street

“People wanted cash settlements to make their homes more resilient and take the resilient homes contribution to prevent going though it ever again, but sometimes the ways policies are written it kind of pushes into people letting the insurer rebuild the way they were.

“And the cash settlements will then be cheapest possible due to building deals the insurers have but in real life it will cost normal person way more.

“People are leaving tens of thousands on the table by not pushing this with insurers.”

Mr Dudgell said the Australian Financial Complaints Authority was also experiencing extreme delays, with wait times for claims escalation now reaching up to five months.

“They have record high complaints. These claims are in limbo as well,” he said.

The Queensland Government has assisted 741 Queenslanders with temporary accommodation since the February 2022 flood event.

Names have been changed to protect the identities of children.