Insurance Claim Delays Explained

QLD and NSW, in particular, have experienced an unprecedented amount of rain and as a result, the volume of Insurance claim lodgements has increased significantly.

A number of insurers have set up dedicated Catastrophe claim teams and Loss Adjusters have been brought into affected regions. Whilst from the outside, it seems that there is not much movement on these claims, it is undoubtedly not the case behind the scene and on the ground.

Insurers have established supply chains with builders and loss adjusters to assist with repairs. As can be appreciated, the scale of the declared catastrophe has had impacts nationally on the sourcing of building materials and labour.

To date, delays up to 2 months are being experienced with Insurers providing updates to Brokers due to turnaround times. Once a claim is lodged with an Insurer, a Loss Adjuster is appointed to a claim and arranges a time with the site contact to attend a site inspection. Once this occurs, a report is written and submitted to the Insurer for consideration on how the policy will respond within the policy wording. This process can often be seen on the surface as a lack of progress.

Unfortunately, this time delay is often misused with the cause of damage often not being repaired in readiness of progressing the claim to internal repairs. The conflicting side of this is the demand of trades cannot keep up with the requirement of works needed which can add to the blowout of claim times.

This probably leads you to wonder, what should I be doing to ensure I am on the front foot with my insurance claims. Well as with most things in the strata community, it pays to be organised. Recently Smart Strata published an article outlining what to do in the current unprecedented weather. In this article, Marsh Advantage Insurance provided some tips to help make the claims process as efficient as possible

Some key points from this are:

• If required due to safety concerns, to reduce further damage or to recover, you can start the clean-up process before an insurance company assesses the damage. This is particularly important where floodwaters have inundated your property to prevent further costs developing from mould build up. If you have already started the clean-up process ensure that you take photos of any damaged property as this will form evidence of the damage for the insurance company in a claim.

• To save time and avoid unnecessary back and forth When corresponding with your broker via email ensure you provide details of your Building Name and Unit Number
• New claims can be submitted for Marsh clients by going to the Forms Section on Archers the Strata Professionals website

• To avoid unnecessary back and forth, Support all costs you wish to claim with appropriate documentation such as receipts and quotations.
• Syna/Andrew is there anything else you’d like to add?

While delays can be frustrating and at times feel never-ending. It’s important for strata owners to realise this current situation is a state-wide and that everyone is doing their best under the current circumstances to ensure a smooth recovery process for all involved. Remember to stay organised, send all relevant documents when required, and if at any point you are unsure if the damage is covered by the Body Corporate or your personal contents policy, you can read the FAQ’s Here

This article was written by Smart Strata