Lengthy spells of above-average temperatures are increasing the number of machinery breakdown claims for Australian businesses.

With many regions breaking records for hot weather, the pressure on refrigeration and air conditioning units is causing many to fail.

“February and March are traditionally the peak months, but this year’s January heat waves have already led to a large number of machinery breakdown claims,” said Matt Pearson, executive general manager with Suncorp Commercial Insurance.

“Many retail and hospitality businesses rely heavily on this equipment so our focus is very much on getting these claims settled as quickly as possible.”
In late 2013, Vero extended its one-touch‟ claims process to the Engineering division last year.

The result is that many claims from this summer’s hot weather are being finalised in record time.

 “Having rolled this out in September, we are already processing around 30% of our small business engineering claims using the one-touch process.”