Natural Disaster Assistance
Have you been affected by the recent floods?
We encourage you to contact your insurance company if you have been affected by the current or recent floods in Victoria, Queensland or New South Wales, or the storms in Victoria over the Christmas period.
For help with the claims process or if you are unable to contact your insurance company, please call the Insurance Council of Australia’s disaster hotline on 1800 734 621.
Following the January 2011 Victorian and Queensland floods, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) issued a Natural Disasters Fact Sheet, which you may find useful.
If you wish to make a complaint about your insurance company after you have lodged a claim, please contact your insurer in the first instance.
FOS offers free and accessible dispute resolution services to all Australian residents. Please note, we are only able to assess your dispute once you have raised the matter with your insurer.
FOS Natural Disaster Hotline
To support the victims of natural disasters, the Financial Ombudsman Service has set up a dedicated hotline to provide help and information on financial hardship, insurance claims and other financial issues experienced as a result of extreme weather events.
Please call 1800 337 444 and your call will be put directly through to our disaster helpline team. Alternatively, you can email the team at FOSdisaster@fos.org.au.
Following is further information for disaster victims about financial hardship and insurance claims.
Common flood Determination topics
To assist you make an informed decision about proceeding with external resolution, we have published a Flood Edition of The Circular that takes note of key areas that regularly appear in disputes, along with examples of the relevant Determinations. To properly understand the findings please read the original Determinations by clicking on the relevant links within The Circular.
Queensland Disaster Relief Fund
Payments from the Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal Fund are available to help people affected by Cyclone Yasi or the Queensland floods in late 2010 and early 2011.
Assistance is provided in relation to:
- homes which were destroyed
- homes which have suffered structural damage
- other payments, grants and assistance are also available.
Click here for further information.
Financial Hardship
Many flood victims will be experiencing both short-term and long-term financial difficulties, ranging from lost credit cards and problems accessing cash through to being unable to make loan repayments.
Banks and other financial services providers generally provide assistance to customers in cases of genuine hardship. Flood victims suffering financial hardship can contact their bank or other financial services provider for assistance.
Click here for a summary of the measures each of the four major banks (NAB, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ and Westpac) and the two Queensland-based banks (Suncorp and Bank of Queensland) have put in place to assist customers, along with relevant contact phone numbers and links to relevant web pages.
If customers encounter difficulties relating to their financial hardship applications, they can register their dispute with the Financial Ombudsman Service, either using our online dispute form or by telephone on 1800 337 444. More information on natural disasters and financial hardship can be found in this fact sheet. Please make sure you notify us that you are a flood-affected customer when you register your dispute. On receiving your dispute your bank or other financial services provider will be notified of your dispute that same day.
Insurance Claims
If you need to make an insurance claim, your first contact should be with your insurer, to check on your coverage and provide details of your claim. The insurance industry has developed an efficient disaster response procedure and should respond in line with the urgency of the situation.
Detailed information for consumers about flood and storm damage claims can be found in this fact sheet.
If customers encounter difficulties relating to their insurance claims, they can register their dispute with the Financial Ombudsman Service, either using our online dispute form or by telephone on 1800 337 444. More information about our dispute resolution process is available here.
General Insurance Code of Practice, section 4.5: Cooling off period for claims arising from a natural catastrophe or disaster
If your insurer (financial services provider or FSP) is a member of the General Insurance Code of Practice (the Code) and it finalised your claim within one month of a natural catastrophe or disaster, you have a six month cooling off period to check whether your claim included everything that was lost or damaged. The cooling off period is available to you even though you may have signed a release when your claim was finalised.
If you think the assessment of your loss was not complete or accurate, contact your FSP and ask it to review your claim.
Some FSPs also have guidelines which allow a review of your claim arising from a natural disaster at any time after finalisation.
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