The National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA), an independent insurance industry association representing around 450 firms and over 3,500 individual intermediaries, has established a claims support initiative following the recent catastrophic flooding in Queensland and New South Wales (NSW).
As of March 22, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) said the industry had received 157,254 claims related to the severe weather event in the two states, up by 2.3% from the previous day's figure.
NIBA's members, qualified insurance brokers, offer advice and assist flood-affected customers with their insurance claims. Now, NIBA has established an initiative to support those who have suffered flood-related losses but do not have an insurance broker.
“Many people are unsure where they stand in relation to insurance,” said NIBA CEO Philip Kewin. “We know the insurers and the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) are responding to the immense challenge, and we hope that the claims support initiative will help the victims of these floods.”
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NIBA said the participating brokers' support and assistance will be provided as a community service. Therefore, it encourages those who suffered losses to call the association's Need a Broker hotline (1300 53 10 73) to get in touch with an insurance broker, who will help them with their insurance claim.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia (BoM) has warned Australians to prepare for another extreme weather event as wild weather approaches eastern Australia, including areas that took a hit from the recent flooding.
Weatherzone, a major commercial weather company providing meteorological services, issued the same warning, adding that some areas are likely to see heavy rain and flooding.
“Widespread rain is likely to affect parts of eastern Australia during the coming week. Models are still figuring out where and how much rain will fall. At this stage, parts of Qld & NSW will be affected,” it said on Twitter.
