Disaster readiness should include insurance

A REVIEW of home insurance policies may not be top of the new year to do list, but financial counsellors from welfare agency Anglicare have said it’s a good idea.

Laura Powell, who counselled families after the 2022 Rochester floods, said conducting a review of insurance policies could help people to recover in the event of a disaster.

“Have a conversation with others in your household about what you’re insured for and what your priorities would be if you received a payout after your house was damaged,” she said.

“Would your priority be repairing the house? Replacing your farm equipment? Moving?”

Heavy rains since the Christmas period along the East Coast, including parts of Central Victoria, have led to insurance claims being filed in the thousands.

In light of this, the Insurance council of Australia has extended its catastrophe declaration to encourage insurers to prioritise claims from this period.

ICA CEO Andrew Hall said policyholders should contact their insurance provider as soon as possible for assistance.

“These severe storms have caused significant stress and uncertainty to those impacted, and insurers are already assisting customers with claims and the recovery process,” he said.

“Insurance assessors are being deployed to the most recently affected communities from today.

“Those impacted should contact their insurer even if they don’t know the full extent of the damage.”

With the cost of living putting pressure on budgets, Anglicare counsellor Leonie Cooke said insurance payments can be the first to be cut but should be prioritised.

“My message is it’s better to call your insurance company and have a conversation rather than dropping it entirely,” she said.

“You can increase your excess and it may actually reduce your premiums, have a look at what you’ve got and make an informed choice.”

Some suggestions from Anglicare are for people to ensure they have a copy of their policy in their ‘go bag’ along with other important documents such as personal identification.

Ms Cooke said it can take time to recover from disaster and navigating insurance policies can be complex and exhausting.

“That’s a big part of what we do, helping people understand and navigate the system, taking some of the burden off them and trying to ease their trauma in any way we can,” she said.

For more information on how to prepare for and recover from disaster contact Anglicare on 1800 809 722.