Roofing repairs in southeast Queensland have been hit by delays and cost increases due to the combined impact of hailstorms last year, continued wet weather and issues related to COVID-19.

The Halloween storm which hit Springfield and surrounding areas was one of Queensland’s largest hail events, while the Bureau of Meteorology says rainfall in the greater Brisbane area in March was “very much above average” and at record levels at some sites.

RACQ has so far received 7300 claims from the Halloween event. Some 3250 of those were home claims and the majority had damaged roofs.

“This event has been particularly hampered by ongoing poor weather and trade shortages due to domestic and international border restrictions relating to COVID-19,” RACQ GM Claims Andrew Johnson told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“Government home building incentives and increased demand for home renovations is also putting extra pressure on the supply chain.”

RACQ says it has onboarded additional builders, but individual trades are in high demand, which is driving increased costs.

“Ongoing climate impacts and shortages of trades provides governments an opportunity to look to increase apprenticeships or increase short-term skilled visas across the building industry, whilst still tackling broader mitigation issues,” Mr Johnson said.

Suncorp says numerous summer storms in addition to the large-scale flooding, COVID restrictions and border changes have been an industry-wide challenge.

“Roofing services have been the most in demand, particularly in Queensland,” a spokeswoman said. “To date, we are not seeing the same constraints in other labour or materials in our response to the NSW flood recovery.”

Suncorp says the classification of insurance workers and tradespeople as essential workers should become a standing arrangement, given how critical it is to have people on the ground helping customers as soon as possible after a disaster.

The Insurance Council of Australia is also looking at the issues in Queensland.

“The ICA has been in discussions with insurers, the building industry and government to find a workable solution,” a spokeswoman said.

Master Builders Queensland says the extent of delays and cost increases varies depending on the contractor, their suppliers and their location, but it’s “a very real problem” across the industry.