Five years after Cyclone Yasi ripped through North Queensland a small number of claimants are yet to receive insurance payouts.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) confirmed it has received 241 disputes regarding Cyclone Yasi claims, with four yet to be resolved.

Out of those four, one was lodged last year while the other three were lodged this year.

FOS spokesman Cameron Ballinger told InsuranceNEWS.com.au most of these disputes relate to the insurer’s delay in handling the claim or a delay in handling a complaint regarding the claim.

“This is also reflected in the total number of disputes related to Cyclone Yasi, where insurer denials of claim, delays in claims or complaint-handling, and disputed claim amounts were the biggest issues we saw,” he said.

ICA spokesman Campbell Fuller told insuranceNEWS.com.au it is not uncommon for a small number of complex claims to remain open after such a major event.

He says Cyclone Yasi resulted in almost 80,000 claims and insured losses of more than $1.4 billion.

“Common reasons for this are the need for the homeowner to source additional financing, indecision by the policyholder about their rebuilding plans, or an ongoing dispute,” Mr Fuller said.

A Suncorp spokesman says 99.8% of the 18,000 home claims received from Cyclone Yasi have been finalised.

“Some of our customers have continued to lodge claims from Cyclone Yasi as recently as six months ago and there are an even smaller number that have complicated council and legal implications we are working to resolve,” she said.

An IAG spokesman says the company handled 7000 claims in relation to Cyclone Yasi.

“All have been finalised except for two where we are waiting on confirmation that the customer is happy with the rectification works we arranged for them.”

FOS’s Mr Ballinger says cyclones claims attract more disputes than bushfires.

“In general, there are greater variances between levels of coverage and understanding of coverage in these events than in the case of bushfires,” he said.

Mr Ballinger says that despite these results the number of significant event-related disputes has trended down from a peak in 2011/12.

He attributes this a much higher prevalence of insurance covering flooding, greater consumer awareness about flood and storm cover and improved industry practice in handling both claims and complaints and financial hardship requests.

Any policyholders with outstanding claims from Cyclone Yasi who would like additional assistance can call ICA’s Catastrophe Hotline on 1800 734 621.