RACQ update: Six months on from devastating floods
RACQ continues to work tirelessly to support its members and communities impacted by the catastrophic floods which swept across parts of Queensland and northern New South Wales earlier this year.
Six months on from the devastating event, RACQ has received close to 15,500 claims and has finalised more than 40% of home claims and 94% of motor claims, paying out $143 million to members so far.
Acting Head of Insurance Trent Sayers said the east coast floods in February and March are the second costliest extreme weather event in Australia’s history, surpassing Cyclone Tracy.
“This disaster has taken a significant emotional toll on our members and communities, and we remain focused on helping them recover as quickly as possible.” Mr Sayers said.
“The devastation and destruction was unprecedented, and it happened at a time when Queensland was already facing major supply chain pressures and labour and material shortages because of the pandemic.
“While we have made good progress, the compounding building sector constraints and scale of the flooding event means the rebuilding process will take time.
“Our team of assessors and builders are processing claims, assessing damage and carrying out repairs as quickly as possible. We’ve completed 97% of home assessments, and repairs have either been completed, cash settled or are underway at more than 7,000 properties.
“Not only is the damage widespread, but the types of properties also affected vary from new builds to townhouses and 100 year old homes – many of which require maintenance to be completed by homeowners before the claim repairs can progress.”
Mr Sayers said RACQ and its suppliers are continuously hiring more staff to support the recovery efforts.
“We have around 2,500 trades and other personnel working on claims from this event, and we continue to deploy additional resources where possible to meet demand,” he said.
“RACQ Foundation volunteers have also been donating their time to help with rebuilding efforts at local community groups, clubs and charities in the hardest hit regions.
“This is in addition to RACQ Foundation’s $2.1 million grants which was distributed across more than 70 local flood-affected groups and a $50,000 funding contribution to Lifeline to deliver psychological first aid to impacted Queenslanders.”
If you are a Queensland sporting club, community group, charity or an organisation with a charitable purpose and have been impacted by severe weather events, natural disaster or drought you can apply for an RACQ Foundation community grant, which are open until 7 October 2022.
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