Helping Australians on the road to recovery

The floods that ravaged areas of New South Wales and Queensland this year have been among the most severe in living memory. Allianz staff have been on the ground giving much-needed support to affected residents by helping them lodge insurance claims and organise emergency repairs. We’ve also been arranging emergency accommodation for people whose homes were badly damaged by the floods.

Catherine Troyahn, Allianz National Manager Claims Customer Relationship Management, says she has been working closely with local partners in the Lismore area so they can visit their customers and provide them with assistance.

“We have been going out with brokers to see their customers and do assessments, settle contents claims as quickly as possible, and organise priorities like emergency payments and temporary accommodation. Our focus has been on contents claims initially, and will move on to building claims as the clean-up and assessment process progresses.”

Troyahn says that speed has been of the essence when getting help to the most vulnerable. “We’ve been working on practical solutions and streamlining processes to fast-track claims settlements,” she says.

Troyahn is aware, though, of the ongoing impact the catastrophe may have on people’s mental wellbeing.

“Given the enormity of this event, it’s going to be a long journey to recovery for these communities and they will require ongoing support as they start to rebuild their lives and homes.”

The enormity of the damage caused to areas such as Murwillumbah, Ballina, Lismore and Windsor in New South Wales, and Gympie and Redcliffe in Queensland, is revealed in our claims lodgement figures. Up to 4 April 2022, the claims teams had received over 30,400 motor and property claim lodgements with a total incurred estimate of $556 million. We expect to see these figures increase as we continue to receive claim lodgements related to the flood event.

Figures relating to property damage reinforce the tremendous impact the flooding has had on people’s lives. It’s estimated that well over 2,000 homes and businesses in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales alone have been declared unliveable. Two out of three flood-affected homes in the Lismore area are set to be demolished.¹

Some residents have had to abandon their homes only to come back and be faced with a second clean-up operation when floods returned. Many whose homes were damaged and need to be rebuilt have been advised not to rebuild in the same place again.

Given the scale of the devastation caused to property and livelihoods, we’ve made free counselling support available to customers, distribution partners and their immediate families. Anyone who has been affected by recent flooding (or by other natural catastrophic events, including the COVID-19 pandemic) is eligible to receive up to three free counselling sessions.

Bookings can be made 24/7 by calling 1800 955 599. Visit our customer counselling support page for more information. Counselling sessions are handled by Assure Programs, one of Australia’s leading mental health organisations. Accessing this support is completely confidential, which means no personal information will be shared with Allianz, and will not affect a customer’s claim.

Allianz’s industry experts work together with our valued partners to make a positive difference for our customers in their time of need, and our thoughts are with everyone affected by the floods in NSW and QLD.

As always, our priority is the safety of our customers and partners. For more on keeping safe during a flood event, see Allianz’s ‘Preparing for floods in Australia’ page.