ICA: Victorian flood claims reach $551.6 million

New figures have revealed more than half a billion dollars worth of insurance claims have been lodged in the wake of last year’s devastating floods.

The full of extent of the carnage wreaked by flooding across regional Victoria last year has been revealed, with insurance data showing damage to homes and motor vehicles so far running to half a billion dollars.

It has been six months since extreme floods ravaged multiple parts of southeast Australia, up-ending livelihoods, costing lives and wiping potential from bumper winter crops.

Insurance Council of Australia figures also show heavy damage to personal property with 12,936 claims relating to flood damage lodged across Victoria since October last year.

Of these, 8393 were related to home damage and 1585 to motor vehicles. The total incurred loss value of the claims was $551.6 million.

The ICA said 45 per cent of those claims have been closed.

However, insurance companies are still receiving new claims as some property owners waited for waters to subside to undertake a full audit of damage.

Local government areas with the highest number of claims were the Campaspe Shire, with residents submitting $207 million worth of claims, followed by Greater Shepparton with $97 million, Maribyrnong with $37 million and Strathbogie and the Mornington Peninsula with $22 million and $17 million respectively.

SES moving residents to safety as floodwaters rise around homes in Rochester last October. Picture: Jason Edwards

Yarra Ranges was next with $14 million, Greater Bendigo at $12 million, Mitchell Shire with $11 million and Macedon Ranges and Murrindindi both at $6 million.

Campaspe Shire is the home of Rochester – a town with 3154 residents, 835 families and an average of two motor vehicles per dwelling at the time of the 2021 census – which bore the brunt of last year’s flooding.

The Weekly Times reported last week that no one knows the true number of houses inundated because no official count was conducted.

However, there are estimates that 40-50 per cent of the town’s population is currently displaced with about 300 families still living in caravans or camper trailers on their properties as they wait insurance assessments.

According to the census, there were 1300 occupied and 131 unoccupied private dwellings in Rochester in 2021, with 1210 of these being separate houses and 71 semi-detached dwellings and townhouses.

Of these, 649 were owned outright, 353 owned with a mortgage and 251 rented.

Meanwhile, the top 10 local government areas in NSW filed a combined $1.6 billion in home and motor vehicle claims for flood damage, with $375 million claimed in Lismore, $251 million in the Tweed and $190 million and $189 million in Ballina and Byron respectively.

ICA chief executive officer Fiona Cameron said the organisation and insurers recently offered face-to-face consultations in Rochester for residents to discuss the progress of their claims.

“The destructive, severe flood and resulting damage that occurred late last year created chaos and disruption to the town of Rochester and the surrounding communities,” she said.

The ICA said the figures were unlikely to be a true reflection of the full extent of home and motor damage suffered across inland Australia due to owners being uninsured.