Law Blog

In what is perhaps the worst natural disaster ever faced by Queensland, thousands of businesses, families and individuals are being confronted by issues relating to apparently insufficient insurance coverage.

It is hard to imagine the feeling of being told that your home or business which has been all but destroyed by flood waters is not covered by an insurance policy you have been paying for years. Worse still is that in many cases the insurance company refusing to cover you for flood damage is often within their rights, as heartless as this may seem. It will certainly be of no solace whatsoever to hear that 'the law is the law' and that insurance companies ought not to be compelled to cover people for flood damage or any other kind of damage that is not explicitly included in an insurance contract.

However, there are other cases where an insurance company may be in the wrong.

Despite refusing to cover a claim initially, in some cases an insurance company may be prevailed upon by the law to provide coverage despite a certain type of damage not being explicitly included in an insurance contract.

These cases are rare, but they do exist.

For this reason, victims of the Queensland flood disaster should seek legal advice if they are in any doubt as to the truthfulness or lawfulness of their insurance company's refusal to cover damage caused by the floods (or storms).

In the first instance people affected should consider contacting Legal Aid Queensland for free legal advice on (07) 3238 3500.

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