By Callum Ludwig
Eastern Community Legal Centre (ECLC) and Disaster Legal Help Victoria are bringing a free event to Warburton with the aim of helping residents ensure they are adequately insured in the face of disaster.
Convening with the Warburton Emergency Planning Group to bring the event to town, the Insurance Legal Health Check will be held in the Redwood Community Centre on Thursday 14 November.
ECLC chief executive officer Michael Smith said as the upcoming fire season approaches, it is important that local residents have access to information about how to protect their home and assets.
“One way of doing this is to make sure that families and properties are not underinsured and know the kinds of things that insurance companies will need if they are impacted by a disaster,” he said.
“Eastern Community Legal Centre and Disaster Legal Help Victoria will be coming out to present to locals on this timely issue, sharing information about ways to prevent disputes and options for seeking advice and help.”
The workshop will aim to help residents understand:
Home Insurance and what it covers
The risks of underinsurance
How to prevent disputes with Insurance providers
Claims and disputes processes
Future climate risks
Where to seek help and support
Mr Smith said the most common issue ECLC has identified is when community members are
underinsured.
“It is so important for community members to know what their insurance covers and the common pitfalls before a disaster occurs, rather than finding out after an actual event has occurred,” he said.
“When people do make a claim, it is also essential that they then seek advice around the
insurance process and any potential offer, some insurance companies will seek to minimise
payments so it is vital that the full costs are considered,”
“Many people don’t realise they have a problem until well after a severe weather event has occurred, ECLC hopes to prevent these problems from happening by working with key services and groups to equip and support community members so that they are not caught out.”
A webinar version open to anyone across the east will also be held on Thursday 7 November from 3.30pm to 5pm.
Mr Smith said extreme weather can lead to legal challenges and emotional distress including problems around property damage and insurance.
“Residents around the Warburton area are in a high fire risk area and many people are unaware of what their home insurance actually covers until it is too late and the damage is done,” he said.
“ECLC’s Climate Justice program works to build community resilience to minimise risks before a disaster occurs, the community cannot prevent extreme weather events, but people can learn to be equipped, and one important way to do this is to ensure that homes are properly insured,”
“Insurance policies vary widely so it is important for community members to check their policies and ensure they are adequately insured before a disaster occurs.”
The in-person event will be held from 5pm to 6.30pm with tea, coffee and snacks provided.
Member of the Warburton Emergency Planning Group Kevin Bargar said as they move down the path of trying to provide a resilience plan for Warburton, this is definitely information that could make a community more resilient.
“Every time we get a new insurance bill coming in the mail, we are all really worried about opening it up and figuring out what the new prices are going to be, so we thought it was a good opportunity to help the community understand a bit more about their insurance,” he said.
“In the recently-completed survey we did, the number one concern of people was future disaster impacts, over three-quarters of the people that responded were worried about exposure to natural hazards like bushfire, storms and floods,”
“Obviously with the Yarra, there are areas of Warburton that could be subject to floods, and lately there’s been more storm damage, power outages and property damage as a result of the storms and somewhere in the future there’s going to be a bushfire because there hasn’t been one in Warburton for a while.”
The online and in-person events will go for about an hour and a half and residents are asked to have their insurance policy handy.
Mr Smith said their ECLC Disaster Recovery Legal Help Check is another tool that can help people with problems after a disaster.
“This Checklist asks residents to consider a range of important issues including safety, housing, insurance, employment and children,” he said.
“Going through the checklist can help identify new issues or existing problems that may have been exacerbated by the impact of an extreme weather event,”
“For example, many people may not realise that legal advice could help with lodging insurance claims or managing employment issues”
The Disaster Recovery Legal Help Check checklist that can be found at:
eclc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Disaster-Recovery-Legal-Help.pdf.
Mr Smith said another concern is that family violence can also increase in the aftermath of a disaster.
“This has been observed consistently after major bushfires and through the pandemic lockdown periods, if you are concerned for your wellbeing or the wellbeing of someone you know, help is available,” he said.
“The Orange Door is the access point for local family violence services, and ECLC can provide a range of family violence legal assistance including support with intervention orders.”
In the case of an immediate safety risk, please call Triple Zero (000). If you require legal assistance, you can call ECLC at 1300 32 52 00, email eclc@eclc.org.au or use their online appointment request form: eclc.org.au/help.
