Another shattering blow has been delivered to the Rochester community after some insurance companies have refused to renew household policies.
Rochester Community House flood recovery co-ordinator Tanya McDermott said people were “at their wits’ end” with insurance companies that had increased their policy prices exponentially and, in some cases, had refused to even provide a quote.
“They come into us at the community house because they have nowhere else to go and often they’re in tears or very close to it,” Ms McDermott said.
“The number of people I’m referring to Disaster Legal Help Victoria for advice is ridiculous. I’ve already made three or four referrals today and it’s 12pm.”
Rochester is home to about 3100 people across about 1500 homes, but many are still displaced.
Ms McDermott said there was no doubt that the two most significant issues in the town were insurance and mental health — two issues she said were intertwined.
She said it was coming up to six months since the flooding event occurred but some people were no closer to having any peace of mind.
“This is people’s lives we’re talking about,” she said.
“This insurance process has been equally as traumatic for people as going through the actual event. People are becoming unwell because of the stress and anxiety of having to work through this process. There’s so many layers to it and it’s just really worrying.
“They should have been paid out by now and well on their way to having contractors in to fix their homes.”
State Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh said he was seeking urgent insurance industry clarification about future protection for the Rochester community.
“I met with Insurance Council of Australia chief executive Andrew Hall at Rochester straight after the floods, and there was recognition even then the insurance industry would be seeing Rochester in a different light,” Mr Walsh said.
“But I will be going back to the ICA first thing next week to see what can be done to turn this around — we had a similar industry backlash in 2011 and got them to back down.
“However, I suspect this is going to be an even harder fight.”
State Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell said she would be raising the issue in Parliament later this week in an attempt to give the people of Rochester more clarity.
“I’m calling on the state government to at least place people in Rochester who can give advice to residents about what their rights are and how to deal with this,” she said.
“The state government also needs to come back to Rochester and really see what is happening in the community. It was all right for government ministers to swan in and swan out immediately after the floods, but really, nothing has happened since.
“The Federal Government needs to be stepping in as well and dealing with the insurance companies to make sure policies are being offered to the people of Rochester.”
Ms Lovell said she had heard first-hand accounts of people being unable to renew their insurance, to gain new insurance or to get on with renovating their homes because they could not secure insurance.
This impacts their ability to obtain a mortgage, get a loan or sell their house, issues that can all have a long-term impact on the future viability of the town.
“The community is in limbo,” Ms Lovell said.
“Not only that, but people are feeling pressured to sign off on an incomplete scope of works or to take a cash payout that they think is lesser value than they should get.”
Ms McDermott said it was not all doom and gloom for every resident.
She said Rochester Community House would continue to advocate for the community.
“There are good stories out there. It’s not a blanket rule that every insurance company is difficult or that every client is having problems,” she said.
“I have literally had people walking through the door saying a certain company has been impossible and then had someone else come through saying they had a really good experience with that company.”