Hydrology reports commissioned by the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) for the Queensland floods will also form the basis of the Financial Ombudsman Service’s (FOS) rulings, according to Chief Ombudsman Colin Neave.

As the first wave of claims against insurers reaches the offices of FOS, Mr Neave told insuranceNEWS.com.au the reports would be accepted as evidence “unless there was good reason not to do so”.

“First of all we would be examining the expert evidence in relation to the flood claims, and that expert evidence is likely to suggest in some cases it was clearly flood and in terms of that policy, excluded from cover,” he said.

“We would propose to use the evidence from these reports to express some preliminary views.”

The independence of the ICA reports has been questioned following news reports that two of the three “independent” hydrologist firms are conducting similar research for insurance companies.

However, LMI Group MD Allan Manning told insuranceNEWS.com.au last month that finding a hydrology firm that had not previously done insurance work would be “like trying to find an actuary that hasn’t worked for insurers”.

insuranceNEWS.com.au understands FOS is relying on the findings of the hydrology reports to ensure only legitimate claims are heard by the Ombudsman.

Mr Neave said while FOS has fielded an increased number of calls due to the Queensland floods, the rise has not been dramatic. “The calls are in the hundreds rather than the thousands.”

He says it’s not certain that the number of complaints lodged with FOS will rise in the coming months as a backlog of claims are finalised. Most insurers are dealing with policy complaints internally.

“So far it’s been good,” Mr Neave said. “At the moment we are very pleased with the reaction of the companies to claims. They are generally handling enquiries very well, and letting people know if there is cover or not.

“We are very keen for companies to make the appropriate decision on cases quickly so consumers don’t have to come to us.

“My overall feeling is that companies generally are looking at cases more practically than in the past and the overall feeling is that they are dealing with issues well.”