Season’s greetings
As the festive season approaches, the team at JMD Ross Insurance Brokers wishes all our valued clients a happy, healthy and safe festive season.
Like the rest of the Australian insurance industry, we had hoped for a benign summer season without natural disasters, like fires and floods. Unfortunately, it’s not shaping up that way, with floods occurring in several regions across our vast continent.
This summer season, more than most, will be difficult for the industry when major weather-related events occur.
An adverse impact of lockdowns and state/territory border closures is delays to insurers’ ability to repair, replace or rebuild damaged homes and other assets.
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) says Covid-19 restrictions and border closures create significant challenges for insurers trying to rebuild and repair disaster-affected communities. That leads to uncertainty and setbacks for families and businesses seeking to get their lives back to normal.
ICA members are the nation’s general insurance companies that collectively pay more than $166 million in claims every day.
ICA has written to state and territory leaders and Prime Minister Scott Morrison seeking a nationally consistent approach to border closures.
Insurers seek exemption
Insurers are seeking an exemption to border restrictions and localised lockdowns to enable them to move claims assessors, disaster recovery specialists, builders and tradespeople in a Covid-safe way between and within states and territories to conduct essential repairs and rebuilds.
“We appreciate the need for restrictions to mitigate health risks, however these must be balanced against the needs of those requiring critical and urgent repairs to their properties that will enable them to pick up their lives and move on,” ICA said on its website.
Despite the difficulties posed by border closures, insurers are adept at using technology to assess claims, for example drone cameras to enable them to review damage in areas that are otherwise inaccessible.
The JMD Ross claims team is also committed to overcoming obstacles to manage clients’ claims expeditiously.
It might be almost the holiday season, but there is always a JMD Ross team member willing and able to assist if you have a claim.