As bushfires across Australia, particularly New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, continue to progress, Allianz Australia has a number of initiatives in place to ensure affected customers are supported.
“Our thoughts are with those impacted by this tragic event. We know this is an incredibly difficult time for our customers and we are here to do everything we can to help the community get back on its feet,” said Allianz Australia Managing Director, Richard Feledy.
Since 8 November 2019, Allianz has received over 1,040 claims, valued at over $115 million. These numbers do not include the losses incurred over the most recent weekend; Allianz is aware of significant losses in Eastern Victoria, South East NSW and on Kangaroo Island.
Allianz has partnered with the Australian Red Cross to establish an employee Bushfire Appeal. Every dollar donated by our employees will be matched by Allianz to help provide psychological first aid and assist evacuees to get in touch with families and friends. Over $50,000 dollars has been raised since November. With Allianz dollar-for-dollar matching, over $100,000 in total has been raised for the Red Cross Disaster Relief & Recovery Fund.
As customers shift their focus to recovery and gain access to their properties, and with the bushfire continuing to cause potential damage across Australia, Allianz has deployed additional resources to ensure customers’ insurance needs are met.
“Many of our customers are still at risk of bushfire damage and others are yet to assess damage due to issues of property access, accommodation, power and transport. As the situation progresses, more claims and questions will come through and our dedicated teams are ready to respond,” explains Mr Feledy.
Allianz’s customer support includes:
- Dedicated priority phone lines for affected customers
- Help to recover policy details if customers lose their insurance documents in the fires
- The ability for customers to lodge a claim or speak to a claims consultant 24/7
- Helping customers, who have lost properties or have homes which are uninhabitable, with temporary accommodation
- Making proactive contact with customers that have not yet made claims in certain regions
- On-the-ground assessment team and claims team support deployed in coordination with the Insurance Council of Australia
- Emergency payments fast tracked for affected customers to assist with immediate needs such as food, clothing or accommodation
Together with the ICA and other insurance industry leaders, Mr Feledy will be in Canberra on Tuesday, 7 January 2020, meet the Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to discuss bushfire recovery efforts.
Discussions will focus on managing the continuing and widespread devastation, the industry’s support of bushfire victims and ensuring resources get to where they are needed in a timely manner.