Charities, Banks Rally To Help Victims

The Age

Monday January 20, 2003

Melissa Fyfe

Claims for lost homes, contents and cars began to flood insurance companies yesterday, as the industry estimated the Canberra fires had destroyed $30 million of property.

The Insurance Council of Australia said the estimate was a conservative figure which was likely to rise as people returned to their houses to assess damage.

The figure does not include public property or infrastructure - such as burnt power lines - or uninsured property.

An insurance council spokeswoman, Sandie Watson, said that, on average, one in two tenants did not have home contents insurance and would be left with significant losses.

``The situation with bushfires is that you can't ring up when you see a fire down the end of your street," Ms Watson said. ``This isn't fair on policy holders who have had policies for years."

Charities, governments and banks rallied yesterday to help victims of the bushfires.

Centrelink set up an assistance hotline to help victims who needed income support, counselling or financial services.

The Australian Capital Territory Government rang up the Commonwealth Bank's emergency hotline asking for an immediate cash advance to give to families.

The Commonwealth Bank opened its systems and gave the ACT Government $200,000 to distribute among the victims.

It also pledged $100,000 to an appeal - yet to be set up - and announced special assistance with credit cards and home loans to customers who lost houses. The National Australia Bank also announced a relief package.

The Australian Red Cross took calls from more than 1000 people asking about the safety of relatives and friends in Canberra and from locals about the movement of fire fronts and the safety of their homes (the latter was difficult for the Red Cross to answer, a spokeswoman said).

The Red Cross's national call centre operated from Victoria after a power supply loss in Canberra.

More than a thousand evacuated people have registered with them. The Salvation Army helped in evacuation centres and provided meals to fire fighters.

NRMA insurance said they had a mobile insurance claim van on standby and were working to assess claims as quickly as possible. Last year an NRMA insurance survey found that one in six Australian homes were not adequately insured.

The help numbers:

The Australian Red Cross, to trace relatives and friends: 1800 339 888

Centrelink for income support and help: 132 468

Commonwealth Bank 24-hour toll free: 1800 650 630

Insurance Council of Australia for insurance queries: 1300 780 808

NRMA: 131 123