ICA expects Townsville flood claims to exceed $45 million

Current insurance losses for the Townsville floods in Australia are valued at $45 million, from 3,500 claims, however, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) expects these figures to rise as people begin to return home to assess the damage.

In a move to clarify the insurance claim situation for policyholders Rob Whelan, ICA CEO, said: “All insurers in Australia have used a standard definition for flood since 2012. The standard definition includes water escaping from a dam, including an intentional release.

“Insurance policies that include flood cover as part of their home and contents insurance will reference this standard definition. Nationally, the majority of home building and contents policies purchased (about 94 percent) include flood.”

However, he added that there may be a “small percentage” of policyholders who have opted-out of flood cover when they bought it or chose a policy that did not include it. “Those policyholders may need to have their claims tested to determine if their claim meets the standard flood definition,” he explained.

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