Queensland’s Reconstruction Authority Chairman, Major General Mick Slater, is contacting insurance company CEOs to speed up claims in flood-devastated areas of the state.

He says a number of chief executives have already offered to listen to his complaints involving their companies.

“I intend to make use of these offers for cases that appear to be genuinely at odds with reasonable levels of expected service,” Maj Gen Slater told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“I am confident that the CEOs I have spoken with are determined to minimise the difficulty and hardships being faced by their policyholders.”

But an Insurance Council of Australia spokesman downplayed the effectiveness of such approaches, saying insurers are already working hard to ensure everyone affected by the Queensland floods receives whatever help they are entitled to.

“Assessments are ongoing and are a complicated process with each case assessed on a case-by-case basis,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “This means hydrologists are able to provide a very detailed assessment of each claim, which ultimately will benefit claimants.”

Updated figures from ICA show 52,683 Queensland flood claims worth more than $2.6 billion have been received, plus a further $967 million or 65,200 claims for Cyclone Yasi.

The spokesman says about $820 million in cyclone and flood claims has been paid out to date, with insurers continuing to pay an average $15 million each working day.