Anthony Albanese urges insurers to ‘do the right thing’ or risk government intervention

Anthony Albanese has put insurers on notice, urging them to “do the right thing” and “restore some of their reputation with the public”.

Anthony Albanese has put insurers on notice, urging them to “do the right thing” and swiftly process claims following Tropical Cyclone Alfred’s destructive wake or risk government intervention.

While the category 1 weather event was downgraded to a tropical low before it made landfall on Saturday, suburbs and towns in the impact zone were whipped by gale-force finds and 12-hour rainfall totals of up to 393mm.

About 200,000 homes in South East Queensland and northern NSW are still without power, and major flood warnings are in place.

Ahead of what will be a monumental clean-up effort, the Prime Minister urged insurers to “do the right thing” and said it was an opportunity to “restore some of their reputation with the public”.

Anthony Albanese has urged insurers to ‘do the right thing’. Picture: NewsWire/ Glenn Campbell

“They have a social licence, and people expect them to make payments in a speedy and effective way when they are due,” he said.

“If not, we’ll give consideration to any measures required, but we want insurance companies to do the right thing. People take out insurance expecting that they’ll receive support when they need it.”

From 2pm local time, affected and eligible residents in Queensland and NSW will be able to claim Disaster Recover Allowance of up to 13 weeks.

In order to respond to the damage, industry body the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has announced an insurance catastrophe for the areas impacted by Alfred.

The declaration calls on insurers to give priority to affected customers and triage claims to ensure worst-impacted owners are given assistance first.

It will also establish an industry taskforce to address concern and mobile disaster response specialists and ICA representatives to work with local agencies and people.

ICA chief executive Andrew Hall said insurers had received about 3000 claims on Friday and Saturday alone and expected the number to increase by “many more thousands”.

About 200,000 homes in Alfred’s warpath are still without power. Picture: NewsWire/ Tertius Pickard

Banny Gregory, 12, makes the most of muddy conditions. Picture: NewsWire/ Glenn Campbell

He added that the full extent of the damage would become apparent once more residents were allowed to return to their homes.

“Insurers’ top priority is community safety. If you’re affected by ex-TC Alfred, stay clear of fallen powerlines and floodwaters and avoid any activities that could put you at risk,” he said.

“The insurance industry has made this catastrophe declaration to activate services and support

for affected homeowners and businesses and reassure them that their insurer is there to help.

“We encourage impacted policyholders to contact their insurer to begin the claims process.”

In recent weeks, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton flagged potential divestiture powers on insurance giants found unfairly increasing their premiums.

However, that stance was rebuffed by senior shadow ministers like shadow treasurer Angus Taylor and Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley.

Originally published as Anthony Albanese urges insurers to ‘do the right thing’ or risk government intervention