ACT Government may face insurer action
The results of the coronial inquest into the January 2003 Canberra bushfires will be of more than passing interest to insurers, says law firm Abbott Tout.
Insurers paid out on 3585 claims valued at $342.4 million after the bushfires, so there will be careful scrutiny of ACT Coroner Maria Doogan’s recent report, which has been highly critical of the ACT Government’s Emergency Services Bureau (ESB).
Abbott Tout says the evidence considered in the report, and the findings of the coroner, will interest insurers thinking about recovering insured losses from the ACT Government and its agencies.
Ms Doogan found the firestorm – which swept through suburban Canberra killing four people and causing up to $1 billion in property damage – could not have been prevented.
She stopped short of laying absolute responsibility on any specific entity or individuals, saying its severity and effect could have been mitigated.
Highlighting managerial and organisational faults at the ESB – including a failure to warn residents of the danger – she said the evidence revealed that people in authority could and should have done many things to diminish the disaster and loss.
Abbott Tout says the findings may encourage insurers and individuals who suffered loss to seek damages from the ACT Government, on the basis that the ESB was an agency of the Department of Justice and Community Safety.
Insurers paid out on 3585 claims valued at $342.4 million after the bushfires, so there will be careful scrutiny of ACT Coroner Maria Doogan’s recent report, which has been highly critical of the ACT Government’s Emergency Services Bureau (ESB).
Abbott Tout says the evidence considered in the report, and the findings of the coroner, will interest insurers thinking about recovering insured losses from the ACT Government and its agencies.
Ms Doogan found the firestorm – which swept through suburban Canberra killing four people and causing up to $1 billion in property damage – could not have been prevented.
She stopped short of laying absolute responsibility on any specific entity or individuals, saying its severity and effect could have been mitigated.
Highlighting managerial and organisational faults at the ESB – including a failure to warn residents of the danger – she said the evidence revealed that people in authority could and should have done many things to diminish the disaster and loss.
Abbott Tout says the findings may encourage insurers and individuals who suffered loss to seek damages from the ACT Government, on the basis that the ESB was an agency of the Department of Justice and Community Safety.