The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is bracing for an onslaught of disputes despite already receiving an “historically high” number from the Queensland and Victorian floods and Cyclone Yasi.

General Insurance Ombudsman John Price says so far 400 disputes have been filed for the three events, which is more than the combined total of Cyclone Larry in 2006 (98), the 2009 Victorian Bushfires (128) and the last year’s Perth hailstorm (50).

Mr Price says the next few months “will be a busy time” for the service. Apart from the disputes filed through the industry, local and community legal agencies have indicated they have a further 400-500 disputed claims.

“At the moment we are coping,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “But with decisions still occurring there is the potential to be a lot more – it is going to be demanding.”

FOS has also adopted an “on the ground” approach, visiting flood victims for one-on-one consultations.

Mr Price says the flood-related disputes are different to the claims raised by other major natural disasters.

“In the bushfires and hailstorms people were generally covered but had issues around a lack of maintenance and wear and tear or calculation of losses,” he said.

“But the flood disputes cover those issues and more. We are now seeing more around the definition and the time of the event as some policies cover flood within a 24-hour period.”

Mr Price says there has also been a considerable rise in the number of issues related to product disclosure statements. FOS is working closely with insurance companies and individuals to attempt to resolve many disputes before they reach the review panel process.

“If there is a pattern obvious in the way a particular dispute has dealt with particular types of disputes, we’ll talk to the insurer and ask them to review other similar matters,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“We hope some will be resolved with that process rather than the normal process of taking it to a panel.”

FOS staff have already visited the flood-affected Queensland communities of Ipswich and Ferndale and will be on the ground this week in Emerald and Rockhampton.