Insurance claims from the NSW mid-north coast floods have fuelled more complaints about flood definitions.

Independent MP Rob Oakeshott, whose electorate of Lyne was affected, says the floods have cost the local economy $35 million and demonstrated the need for a national definition of flooding.

“We are getting reports from various residents who thought they were doing the right thing –they thought they had flood insurance – but have found themselves exposed,” he said. “That is potentially financial ruin for some. We need to address that as a parliament.”

He has urged people in the electorate to talk to the federal parliamentary inquiry into the insurance response to natural disasters.

The Insurance Council of Australia has not declared the floods as an insurance catastrophe.

A spokesman for Suncorp told insuranceNEWS.com.au the company has received “a couple of hundred” claims across its brands, mostly for water inundation. The total amount claimed isn’t enough to constitute a material event for reporting purposes.

An NRMA Insurance spokesman says the company has received around 700 claims across the region and has assessors in the hardest hit areas including Woolgoolga, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Taree and Sandy Beach. It does not have a total claims figure.