Residents in the New South Wales central west have told a federal parliamentary inquiry of their declining mental health, and pressures to accept low payouts from the insurance industry. The inquiry is probing insurers’ response to catastrophic flooding which hit communities across several states.
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00:00Josh Dawson and his young family moved into their Eugoura home six months before it was
00:07hit by what was described as an inland tsunami.
00:11A hydrologist hired by insurance company Allianz found the damage had been caused by a nearby
00:17creek, making his claim ineligible.
00:20It's almost as if the insurance companies own the hydrologists.
00:25They pay them to give them an answer.
00:28After taking his case to the insurance regulator, Josh Dawson was once again knocked back because
00:33he couldn't afford his own hydrological report.
00:37He was among many witnesses to call for independent water experts to be used in flood assessments.
00:43If they're an independent, they're not going to favour the insurance company as such.
00:49There's more opportunity for them to tell the truth.
00:54Everything is set up in the insurer's favour.
00:58We understand that insurance companies are businesses and they need to make money, but
01:04we would ask them to understand that we're not just the policy number.
01:09In the nearby town of Molong, business owners and residents shared their experiences of
01:14major flooding.
01:15Heba El-Kurdi runs the local gym which had to shut for nine months.
01:20She lost hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment and memberships.
01:25She told the inquiry her insurance company paid out 30% of her claim.
01:30You get pushed into a corner, you become desperate and whatever they throw at you, you want to
01:35take and try and recover.
01:37Molong resident and lawyer Kirsty Evans did more than 250 hours of pro bono work representing
01:44the town's businesses.
01:46She told the committee there was little support for flood victims.
01:50They've pulled money off home loans, additional farming businesses.
01:54This is regional and rural Australia.
01:56We're self-funding our return at the benefit of insurers so we can get back to business.
02:02The inquiry will now travel to north-western Sydney today to hear from residents in the
02:06Hawkesbury.