The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) says no one in the flood-damaged northern Tasmania town of Latrobe has contacted the council’s hotline despite “horror stories” about insurers from some affected residents.

The residents say they have waited more than two weeks to have their properties assessed, and in many cases were sent assessors who were unable to deal with the size of the claim.

Some 121 properties were affected when the east coast storms hit the town almost three weeks ago.

Latrobe Council Recovery Co-ordinator Michelle Dutton told insuranceNEWS.com.au residents have “plenty of horror stories” from dealing with insurers.

In one case the grandparents of a severely dyslexic boy were forced to move back into a house with rotten floorboards because their grandson could not be away from home, yet were told by an assessor their case “was not a priority”, she says.

“Another phoned their insurer and they’ve had their excess taken out, but they still hadn’t seen an assessor and that’s two weeks after the event.”

But ICA has not received any complaints on its hotline, despite asking the local authority to encourage disgruntled residents to call the number.

“We have taken active steps to respond to concerns raised by Latrobe Council about perceived delays in the processing of flood damage claims from the east coast low,” spokesman Campbell Fuller told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“ICA has spoken on several occasions to Latrobe Mayor Peter Freshney over recent weeks to discuss his concerns.”

Mr Freshney told insuranceNEWS.com.au some residents are wary of going public with their complaints for fear it will affect their claims.

But Mr Fuller says assessors were “on the ground in Tasmania before the floodwaters had receded, and began visiting affected policyholders as soon as they were able to gain access”.

“Some insurers flew both staff and equipment across from the mainland to accelerate their customer support response.”

However, Ms Dutton says some insurers made the mistake of flying in small claims assessors, forcing residents to wait for major assessors. “Some have had two or three assessors come through,” she said. “Some are still waiting and have no idea what is going on.”

Ms Dutton says 21 houses remain unoccupied in Latrobe, while some people are in “no man’s land” with no alternative accommodation.

She says the delays have stalled clean-up efforts. “We have a very strong community [on stand-by to help] and that initial momentum for helpers is now lost.”