Southland flooding victims advised to 'photograph everything' for insurance claims

Wednesday, 5 February 2020

The flooded Mataura River flows past the Alliance Freezing works (left), and the closed Papermill.

Anticipating a deluge of insurance claims, the insurance industry is urging Southland policyholders to carry out a number of commonsense precautions.

A state of emergency exists in the region and Gore, Mataura and Wyndham residents have been ordered to evacuate, as local rivers rise.

Flooding around Gore on Tuesday. Evacuations have been ordered for low-lying areas around Southland.

The Mataura has burst its banks, and many roads and schools are closed.

Residents in the South Island town of Riversdale have also been put on standby in case of evacuation.

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Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman Karen Stevens urges flooding victims to take photographs, not throw anything out.

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Several insurance companies said it was too early to assess the scale of damage, but Insurance Ombudsman Karen Stevens said those waiting to see if they had to leave their homes should try to mitigate the possible damage.

Violet Keen, who was evacuated from Gore, at the Waimumu Field Days site which has been turned into an evacuation centre.

'They should try and protect everything as much as they possibly can, which is not easy in a flooding situation but if they can move anything to higher ground or move it up and out of the way of water, it's a good idea.'

When they returned, she said it was important to photograph the damage and not to throw any water-damaged possessions away.

'I think particularly in flooding situations, people are very tempted to chuck stuff away, there's dirt and water-damage, it can smell and it's not very pleasant.

'The problem is if they do that, they are sometimes faced with a situation of having to prove they've actually owned or lost things.'

Trying to keep all of their records intact was important, and most insurers were 'pretty good in terms of accepting evidence' but they were entitled to proof.

Making a list of one's belongings early on was a good idea, because adding to the claim later could be problematic, 'if they have a list that's ever changing'.

Rural insurer FMG said it was 'very early days' to talk about claims.

'We're proactively contacting our clients to check on their welfare and to see what support they may need to make a claim,' a spokesperson said.

'We expect this to change in coming days and weeks as clients have a chance to check their property and belongings.'