… but hit the ground running in Victoria
Loss adjusters are spread very thin at the moment as they struggle to cope with a spate of natural disasters across Australia.
Consumer advocate Dennis Nelthorpe says people in Victoria will face delays in having their claims processed because of a shortage of adjusters.
But Freemans Operations Manager Lee Cooper told insuranceNEWS.com.au the company has brought in adjusters from Victoria and interstate and is handling claims well.
“The situation is changing constantly,” he said. “In the first week we had major difficulties getting into large areas because of investigations being conducted by the coroner and police and also occupational health and safety.”
McLarens Young International Chief Adjuster Bob Richards says to meet the demand, adjusters from NZ have been sent to Queensland to handle flood claims while loss adjusters with local knowledge have been redeployed to Victoria.
He told insuranceNEWS.com.au as of Saturday all bushfire claims, except those in areas where there is still no access, have been inspected. He also expects any new claims to be inspected within 24 hours of receiving instructions, again depending on access.
“We are anxiously awaiting information from the Government on the site cleanup specification standard… and similarly we’re awaiting some direction from the Government in relation to building standards.”
After the Canberra bushfires and Cyclone Tracy in Darwin building costs soared. Mr Cooper says there is no evidence at this stage to suggest that will occur but as there also hasn’t been any rebuilding it is difficult to predict how things will unfold.
Mr Richards says he is reasonably confident that market forces will keep building costs under control.
“I think loss adjusters generally are better placed now with knowledge of past events to keep some pressure on cost blowouts,” he said. “But I suspect that the re-building won’t be as quick as we might hope.”
Consumer advocate Dennis Nelthorpe says people in Victoria will face delays in having their claims processed because of a shortage of adjusters.
But Freemans Operations Manager Lee Cooper told insuranceNEWS.com.au the company has brought in adjusters from Victoria and interstate and is handling claims well.
“The situation is changing constantly,” he said. “In the first week we had major difficulties getting into large areas because of investigations being conducted by the coroner and police and also occupational health and safety.”
McLarens Young International Chief Adjuster Bob Richards says to meet the demand, adjusters from NZ have been sent to Queensland to handle flood claims while loss adjusters with local knowledge have been redeployed to Victoria.
He told insuranceNEWS.com.au as of Saturday all bushfire claims, except those in areas where there is still no access, have been inspected. He also expects any new claims to be inspected within 24 hours of receiving instructions, again depending on access.
“We are anxiously awaiting information from the Government on the site cleanup specification standard… and similarly we’re awaiting some direction from the Government in relation to building standards.”
After the Canberra bushfires and Cyclone Tracy in Darwin building costs soared. Mr Cooper says there is no evidence at this stage to suggest that will occur but as there also hasn’t been any rebuilding it is difficult to predict how things will unfold.
Mr Richards says he is reasonably confident that market forces will keep building costs under control.
“I think loss adjusters generally are better placed now with knowledge of past events to keep some pressure on cost blowouts,” he said. “But I suspect that the re-building won’t be as quick as we might hope.”