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Many Larry claimants still waiting for insurance
4 Sep 2006
One of the primary victims of Cyclone Larry may not be the banana and sugar cane farmers of the Innisfail and Tully regions of far north Queensland, nor the households and small businesses affected by the late summer storm. The biggest victim may be the insurance industry, which has proved surprisingly tardy in finalising claims. Suncorp Metway, the dominant insurer in Queensland, said at its annual profit briefing on Friday that it finalised in the order of 60 per cent of claims. This is an improvement over the position less than three months ago, when only a quarter of home building claims were settled at late June. Suncorp said one of the issues facing insurers, and the insured, was the task of developing repair plans and estimating repair costs. The insurer said it engaged Lend Lease Bovis to assist in this work. Rejecting the thesis that Suncorp and other insurers let their customers down by dithering over claims, the company’s management said the insurance industry received encouragement from Peter Cosgrove for their collective approach.
The Sheet.com, 04/09/06
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