Far North Queensland community groups and councils outlined concerns with insurers’ responses to Ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper at today’s flood inquiry hearing in Cairns. 

Port Douglas Community Services Network family support worker Erin Easton told the inquiry committee some of her clients faced homelessness, with many feeling they were “misled into believing they had guaranteed emergency temporary accommodation”.

“We have displaced residents with nowhere to go,” she said. “Some are being forced to camp on properties, others are having to rely on families and friends to house them ... which is adding pressure.”

She says many policyholders have experienced mental health problems as a “direct result” of insurers’ conduct and delays. 

“We have seen clients too afraid to challenge their insurance companies and too afraid of self-advocacy, out of fear of this affecting their claim and further delaying the process,” Ms Easton told the committee of federal MPs. “In fact, this is why many customers were afraid to give evidence today.” 

Ms Easton says many clients were unaware of or reluctant to attend local insurer forums.

“At the most recent Insurance Council of Australia event in Mossman, hardly any customers showed up, and all that is doing is making the council think, ‘There are no problems, as no one is here,’ ” she said. 

“But if it came through organisations that are on the ground with the people and know the clients more intimately, it would have found there are a huge number of people who need to access this, but they are just not showing up.” 

Economic advocacy group Advance Cairns’ CEO Jacinta Reddan says issues including poor insurance competition and a lack of accommodation options caused the December disaster to be “a perfect storm”. 

She says the storm’s slow movement diminished the cyclone reinsurance pool’s influence, as most damage occurred outside the pool’s 48-hour cover period. She backs calls to increase the period to seven days.

Ms Reddan says premiums are due to increase by 30% in the region “directly as a result of the flooding” and that changes such as flood cover standardisation and independent hydrology panels are potential ways to reduce costs.

“We should have been looking forward to the benefits of the reinsurance pool on cyclones, and now the region has to confront the increased risks that are going to be embedded in future costs,” she said. 

Cairns Chamber of Commerce board member Bob Epps told the inquiry the cyclone pool alone “is not adequate ... to reduce rising premiums”, while Douglas Shire Council acting CEO Paul Hoye backed a national version of the Resilient Homes Program, which was set up after the February and March 2022 floods. 

“We really can’t move on with some of the properties without some sort of buyback scheme ... without the scheme, the response to some of our people is that they will be left homeless or in a caravan,” Mr Hoye said.

The flood inquiry will continue tomorrow in Townsville.