INSURANCE Council of Australia chief executive, Andrew Hall will be joined by representatives from various insurance companies, when he visits Casterton, later this month.


Wannon MP, Dan Tehan, visited Casterton last week, meeting with residents over growing concerns with insurance agencies, following the hailstorm which decimated the town in October.


More than 20 residents and business owners turned out to meet with the MP and report issues with insurance companies following the October storms – issues which ranged from payouts which did not cover damages done, to black-listing of a couple who were accused of making a fraudulent claim.


“I was shocked, I thought that people would have been treated with a lot more decency and I think the insurance industry really has to have a good hard look at themselves and I’m sure there will be growing dismay at the way they are seen by the community,” Mr Tehan said immediately after the meeting.


“People who pay their premiums should be expected to be treated with common decency … it should not take a public meeting for us to draw attention to the current situation where people feel like they’re being used and abused.


“I sadly have been hearing more and more issues with regards to how insurance companies are operating, but to have so many people be so aggrieved out of a community Casterton’s size is very concerning.”


He said the inequity between insurance companies’ responses to floods in northern states – which made national headlines – and the Casterton hailstorm, was a mystery which could only be solved at a industry level.


“That’s a question the insurance companies need to answer, no matter the type of damage or the location, everyone should be treated with a similar amount of respect, that includes having their cases dealt with in an appropriate timeframe,” he said.


“What was agreed at the meeting was that everyone would escalate their claims to the dispute setting within the insurance company, then if the issues have not been resolved within 14 days, they would go to (the Australian Financial Complaints Authority) and if we did not have outcomes after 30 days, the community was keen for my office to start calling out the insurance companies by name, calling all the problems they’d encountered.


“And I will 100% back, calling out these insurance companies.


“In the meantime, I’m going to the Insurance Council of Australia, asking the CEO to come to Casterton to see what is happening here.”


The threat of group action, backed by the MP appears to have had some effect already, with the council’s chief executive committing to a visit to Casterton and community engagement around the 24th of March – date to be confirmed – with representatives of various insurers, in tow.


“They’ll be doing community outreach sessions on all outstanding insurance issues,” Mr Tehan said.


“I hope there are not any by then … we have already had one of the insurance agents contact my office as a result of the meeting we had in town and hopefully we’re about to see some immediate action for their clients.


“And if all outstanding matters have been resolved by the end of March, then residents can take the opportunity to explain to the insurance companies exactly what went on here, so when future incidents like this occur, there are no issues.


“My view is that one way or the other, we’re not going to waste this opportunity.”


Health Minister called out


“THAT hospital is a disgrace.”


Those were the first words from Mr Tehan, after surveying Casterton Memorial Hospital last week, four months after the building was extensively damaged by the October hail storm.


In addition to the “horrific” accounts from private residents and business owners, the MP said his visit to the hospital had revealed a myriad of ongoing infrastructure issues plaguing the hospital’s service delivery, as a direct result of the storm.


“They are making-do, thanks to great resilience of the wonderful staff, but the Victorian State Government needs to act and act immediately, to address the current situation,” Mr Tehan said.


“Winter is coming and no one is seeing any action at all, to try and fix the health services’ facilities before it gets here.


“You have to remember there will be increased demands on the health system over the Winter with flus and other issues that come with the colder weather and the hospital is really in no state to deal with that … there are makeshift facilities and rooms in place for services while nothing is being done.


“My view is the Health Minister needs to come to Casterton immediately, to see what’s going on here and address the lack of action on restoring these facilities.”