Gold Coast storms more destructive than Cyclone Jasper

The South East Queensland Christmas tornado and flooding event has proven to be more destructive than ExTropical Cyclone Jasper in the Far North, with Gold Coasters so far making at least 14,600 claims to insurers.

The Insurance Council of Australia on Wednesday extended its catastrophe declaration to January 3 to include storms that struck the Gold Coast on New Year’s Eve.

A separate declaration had been made for TC Jasper in Far North Queensland but insurance claims for Gold Coast properties have already exceeded the number of claims from the north.

Of the 19,000 claims made to Suncorp, 12,500 were made in Queensland, including 10,800 on the Gold Coast. This is compared to 1700 made after Jasper.

RACQ managing director and group chief executive David Carter said they had received 3894 insurance claims for the Gold Coast and Logan since December 23, including 3575 home and contents claims and 319 motor vehicle claims.

Numbers are expected to increase dramatically after mobile and roadside assistance teams were deployed to the Gold Coast on Wednesday to help residents lodge claims.

He said teams were operating from a Mobile Member Centre at Helensvale, and from the Upper Coomera Community Recovery Centre.

“We also have assessors and builders in the region attending homes and completing makesafe repairs and assessments. Claims are being triaged, according to need and circumstances,” Mr Carter said.

Insurance Australia Group brands, including NRMA Insurance, CGU and WFI, received 6053 claims between December 21 and 29,2023 as a result of the extreme weather across Australia.

An IAG spokesman said property assessors and partner builders were conducting emergency assessments and make-safe repairs, and hubs were available in Upper Coomera, Mudgeeraba and Jimboomba from Thursday.

Insurance Council of Australia chief executive Andrew Hall said additional assessors would be deployed to help with the large volume of claims.

“Those impacted should contact their insurer even if they don’t know the full extent of the damage,” he said.