of the inquiry into insurers’ responses to the 2022 major floods. Anyone expecting them to intervene and enforce stricter standards and accountability across the insurance sector shouldn’t hold their breath.
I dealt with all the big insurers, as well as smaller, boutique agencies, and can confidently say they’re all the same. I sat through non-apologies, blame-shifting, inconsistent offers and misleading information. In one case, offers were continuously miscalculated and grew smaller with each conversation. In another, I was informed that one client’s claim was delayed simply because she had retained a lawyer.Across the board, insurers sought to minimise payments on legitimate claims.
Federal and state governments, along with local councils, are complicit in this egregious financial, mental and emotional abuse of their citizens. Because while insurance isn’t a public function, there need to be checks and balances on how the private companies administering it operate. And this problem is only set to get worse with more life-changing climate-related disasters predicted.