Did your insurance claim from Cyclone Debbie get rejected? If it did then you are in the same boat as the local business Sanctum in Billinudgel, and you too might still be able to challenge the insurance rejection.
Following Cyclone Debbie ‘Many small business owners, such as myself, were left with extensive damage to our businesses,’ said Sanctum founder Greg Milham.
Like many local businesses and residents his insurance claims were quickly rejected by his insurer Vero.
‘The first thing the insurer says is “it’s flood damage – you’re not covered”,’ continued Greg.
‘The insurance company were relying upon a report from a hydrologist to suggest that my factories were flooded. We knew the report was incorrect owing to the topography of the area, direction of the water flow and the fact the water left in our factories was clear.’
Rejected three times
Nonetheless the claim was rejected three times by the insurer, who produced multiple hydrology reports to back themselves up. By their third hydrology report stating that the damage was caused by flood it became clear that ‘their third report disagreed with their first report’.
With the assistance of Lachlan Main from Main Lawyers and the Office of NSW Small Business Commissioner (OSBC) Greg was able to challenge the insurer’s claims. Greg joined a bulk submission to the Financial Ombudsman’s Service (FOS) from small-business owners from the region that has expedited the process of determining flood claims.
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Related Tag: Flood Lawyer