Insurance delays as Exmouth residents struggle with living conditions

Darryl Byatt and his family have been living in a shed for the last five months after Cyclone Narelle significantly damaged their home in March.

The Exmouth resident said he was fortunate that before the cyclone hit the town, 1,250 kilometres north of Perth, he renovated the shed so it was liveable for the short term.

"The house was unliveable, the roof came off, the verandah came off and there was extensive damages to plasterboards and flooring," Mr Byatt said.

"We had concerns the insurance might take a little bit of time to process, we just did not expect five months," he said.

Not a unique situation

Cyclone Narelle was a category four system when it passed the coast of Exmouth, damaging homes, business, roads and the airport.

Mr Byatt said an assessment was done of his property by builders sent by his insurance company.

However, when Mr Byatt received the settlement quote he found a lot of the damage was missing from the report.

He said he questioned the insurer about why items were left out but could not get a definitive response. 

"We declined to sign that thinking maybe we can get somewhere quickly and it's now been referred to Australian Financial Complaints Authority," he said.

"It just seems to be an extreme lack of follow-up and communication."

Mr Byatt said his experience was not unique.

"I have spoken to a few people, there is different people with different insurance companies experiencing the same frustration," he said.

Some of the offered settlements seemed much below the actual repair costs while some cases failed to receive much response. 

Challenging system

Exmouth Shire president Matt Niikkula said anybody with an insurance policy should be looked after.

"The insurance claims are obviously very high in volume and the insurance companies have to step up to the plate," Cr Niikkula said.

"Our expectation is they will look after each and every claim and make sure our community is not left in the dark."

In the aftermath of the cyclone, the shire helped organise a team of legal aid lawyers to town to offer services not easily accessible in the remote location.

Regional Alliance West lawyer Dempsey Morgan visited Exmouth and said they wanted to ensure locals were aware of the obligations of insurance companies.

"We want to arm them with the knowledge so they know where to go from here,"

he said.

Mr Morgan said some insurance companies had hired builders from outside the town to conduct assessments and provide quotes.

"Those quotes have come back higher than what the properties were insured for and that is leading to cash settlements," he said. 

"Once people are accepting the cash settlement, there is a limited amount of funding available for alternative accommodation while works are completed."

A report released from the corporate watchdog, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), earlier this week found at least 63 per cent of final home insurance claims included a cash settlement.

High volume of claims

Australian Insurance Council's director of Extreme Weather Response Liam Walter said more than 1,100 claims were reported from Exmouth following the cyclone, with more than 600 of them being household claims.

"I'd like to acknowledge the severity of the incident and the disruption it's caused and that we certainly understand what people are going through," Mr Walter said.

"Certainly the process can take some time and is really dependant on the damage."

He said while the properties with minor damages might have their claim settled, they expected five months waiting period for those with extensive damages.

"In some cases, it could be up to a year before their property is completely repaired,"

Mr Walter said.

He urged Exmouth locals to submit complaints to attract more attention to their case if they felt the insurers were not communicating appropriately.

"If things are not making sense or if requests are not being heard, then that complaints process is a really critical lever that customers have to kick their claim into a different path of review to try and get those issues resolved," Mr Walter said.

Following Mr Byatt's rejection of the quote, the insurance company has reached back out to him suggesting a re-assessment of his property.

"They said it seems the builders missed some items out of their paperwork and they are asking the builders to do it again," Mr Byatt said.

"We are not sure who missed what, we can't get any answers."