RACQ Insurance has approved the flood claims of 247 customers who had previously been rejected after it received new hydrological information from Brisbane City Council.

Claims by clients in the Ipswich region for flash flood and stormwater run-off were originally denied by the insurer, but have now been accepted on confirmation that rainfall rather than riverine flooding caused their properties to be inundated.

RACQ Insurance CEO Bradley Heath says not all customers in Ipswich will be covered by the decision, as the Brisbane River did cause some inundation.

He also rejects claims that homeowners will only get a small payout. “We expect the total payout to these 247 claimants to be in the tens of millions of dollars,” he said. “It is far more than a consolation payment.

“Uninformed comments like this only add to the anguish these people have been going through. The fact is that the policy in respect to flash flood and stormwater run-off provides cover up to 50% of the sum insured, or $25,000, whichever is the higher.”

Mr Heath says RACQ has been trying since early February to access hydrological information from councils in flood-affected areas and is confident that it has identified all claims able to be re-assessed.

The insurer has accepted about 93% of more than 15,700 claims it has received from the four major weather events of last summer. About 52% of customers whose homes were inundated have been covered.

A joint statement from Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten and Queensland MP Shayne Neumann, whose electorate covers Ipswich, says more than 99% of people making claims for loss and damage from the Queensland floods have received an answer from their insurers. About 85% of those claims have been accepted and 15% declined.

In its submission to the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry, RACQ has called for a national approach to providing flood information.

Mr Heath says that before RACQ can consider providing flood cover as standard there must be changes across all levels of government and the insurance industry to allow better access to information so risk can be determined adequately.

“Access to historical flood data is required, along with river gauge height data, rainfall data and terrain mapping,” he said.