The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has declared the significant storms and flooding that impacted the state of Victoria over the weekend as a catastrophe event.
From June 10th, 2021 regions of Victoria were heavily impacted by a series of significant storms and flooding.
According to the ICA, the impact of flooding has been felt the most in Gippsland around Traralgon and in the Yarra Ranges.
After being evacuated, people from Traralgon were able to return home over the weekend, although some reports suggest that thousands of homes and businesses across the region could be without power for another week.
Andrew Hall, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the ICA, commented: “It’s too early to understand the extent of the damage to property in affected areas and to estimate the insurance damage bill, however insurers have received more than 6,500 claims in the past few days.
“The insurance industry has made this Catastrophe Declaration to activate services and support for affected homeowners and businesses and reassure them that their insurer is there to help.
“As many areas are currently inaccessible due to floodwater, insurers are expecting further claims in coming days as emergency services allow residents to return to their properties to examine the extent of their damage and losses.”
The deceleration by the ICA means that claims from affected policyholders will be given priority by insurers.
