While many Brisbane businesses had flood cover, brokers are finding more claims are coming in from business interruption (BI) policies.

Council of Queensland Insurance Brokers President Alan Schafer says loss of power on the city fringe has led to the BI claims.

“While a lot of companies had flood cover, it has been an eye-opener that there are more clients now in flood-prone areas,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

Mr Schafer says some companies, in industrial areas such as Rocklea and Archerfield, cannot obtain flood cover due to the risks.

“Even Zurich won’t provide flood cover for these businesses,” he said. “But we saw areas that were in the 1974 floods that weren’t flooded this time.”

None of the insurance companies contacted by insuranceNEWS.com.au would provide an indication of commercial property losses.

According to the Insurance Council of Australia, the total residential cost of the floods in Queensland is currently at $1.9 billion.

Suncorp Commercial Insurance CEO Anthony Day told insuranceNEWS.com.au his company estimates the total commercial claims lodged so far account for about 10% of the volume and 20% of the cost.

Mr Schafer says more businesses did have flood cover than in the 1974 floods and the insurance companies are to thank for that.

“The number of clients has increased and companies such as Zurich must take a lot of credit for that,” he said.

Mr Day says the number of commercial claims from the floods in Queensland was unprecedented.

“I’ve been around for a while in this industry but I’ve never seen events one after the other like this,” he said.

“It has certainly been testing, and we’ve had to use our scale to respond. But it’s a good reminder of why we’re here – to pay claims.”

Mr Day says his division has focused on supporting brokers with mobile claims offices that were operational as soon as the floodwaters receded.

“Our focus has now moved to assessment, repair and payment and the recovery phase is in full swing,” he said.

“We’re using local tradesmen and suppliers wherever possible and working hard right across the commercial business to finalise the large amount of claims as quickly as we possibly can.”