More than 35% of Cyclone Larry insurance claims have been settled in the three months since the storm devastated Innisfail in Far North Queensland.

In addition to these settled claims, repair work has been authorised on more than a third of other houses for which claims have been made.

The industry has received about 30,000 claims, representing about $425 million, and more than 75% of the claims have involved domestic building and contents insurance.

Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) Deputy CEO Philip Maguire says residents and businesses in Innisfail are “seeing real results” from the insurance industry, which is working closely with the Cyclone Larry Operation Recovery Taskforce to help rebuild the homes of those affected as quickly as possible.

He says ICA is meeting regularly with the Queensland Government’s Building Co-ordination Centre to help identify and resolve issues. This includes taking action to waterproof all homes before the next wet season and to prioritise, where possible, dwellings in need of re-roofing.

“While the process of lodging a claim, having it assessed and gaining approval for building and repair work inevitably takes time, insurers are giving high priority to expediting this process,” Mr Maguire said.