Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred has left its mark on South East Queensland, with widespread damage sparking a surge in insurance claims. For insurance builders, this means an intense pipeline of work ahead, with urgent repairs needed across homes and businesses.

Hew Williams, CEO of major national insurance builder, Watermark Constructions, indicated the extent of the damage they have seen to date: 

“It’s widespread damage across the whole of South East apart from the Sunshine Coast and I think there is a lot of vulnerable people. Even Harvey Bay has been hit hard with a bit of flash flooding…it all started as obviously a very slow moving cyclone and with that came a lot of wind and impact damage, a lot of trees on houses and then it morphed into flooding. I watched it before my eyes on Sunday morning as we went to a couple of our claims. It turned into flooding and flash flooding really really quickly.”

Surge in Insurance Claims

As of March 13, over 40,000 home insurance claims have been lodged, a number expected to grow as assessments continue. Most claims originate from Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Northern NSW and Hervey Bay, where strong winds and heavy rainfall caused significant structural damage and flooding.

Sorting out who needs urgent attention is the first priority.

“We’re trying to triage the vulnerable and the hardest hit people and make sure that they’re serviced, they’re looked after and they’re safe.”

Power outages have added to the disruption, with more than 33,000 properties still without power, further complicating the recovery process. The scale of the impact has drawn comparisons to past weather events that triggered months of rebuilding efforts.

What This Means for Insurance Builders

For insurance builders, the next few months will be characterised by high demand, stretched resources, and logistical challenges. Repair work will be prioritised based on severity, with a focus on restoring habitable homes and commercial properties.

Hew explains the first priority is ensuring the livability of the homes,

“The make safe teams are on the ground preventing people’s houses from leaking any further.”

“We’re undertaking the restoration process on the flooding jobs and obviously removing trees and taping roofs and making sure that those houses are as safe as possible to move onto the assessment processing and essentially rebuild from there.”

Will We See A Strain New Home Building?

Even before Alfred, new home construction in Queensland was facing major pressures. Labor shortages, increasing build costs, and rising interest rates have already troubled builders locally. Now, with thousands of emergency repairs needed, the question is:

The potential ripple effects and the questions that may need answering are:

• Will insurance rebuilds take priority over new home construction? If trades shift to insurance work, could this delay scheduled home builds?
• Will increased demand for roofing, framing, and electrical materials lead to shortages or price surges?
• Will homeowners that were planning a 2025 build now face extended timelines due to industry-wide strain?

Trades Stepping Up

Hew explains the builder needs to mobilise a broader trader base to handle the claims for this event,

“Trades have been incredible. We’ve got our core trade network that we utilise day-to-day but the response for the recovery efforts has been phenomenal with a lot of trades reaching out to us. The serviceability of the trades and the quality of the communication has really been a level above compared to previous events.”

Hew explains that insurance builders need to be careful about over-committing to jobs also,

“You have to be sensible and responsible and ethical around you know the volume to take on so that you can do the best job possible.”

Hew continues, “We take on enough work that we can do really well and get people back in their houses. You know it’s something that adversely affects someone’s life, and you don’t want to affect that even more.”

Industry Response & Government Support

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has declared the cyclone an insurance catastrophe, activating additional support for policyholders and fast-tracking claims. Insurers have reached out to over 250,000 customers in affected regions, while assessors and claims consultants are being mobilized at scale.

Andrew Hall, CEO of the Insurance Council of Australia, has indicated that all aspects of the insurance sector are ramping up,

“Insurers have added hundreds of additional claims consultants, engaged round-the-clock major event response teams during the active phase of the event, pre-reserved temporary accommodation for impacted customers, and secured a strong network of builder and supplier capacity in potentially impacted areas.”

Outlook for the Months Ahead

While the immediate priority is addressing urgent repairs, the full scope of Alfred’s impact will unfold over the coming months. Insurance builders will likely see sustained demand well into 2025, with larger rebuilds extending further into the pipeline.

Whether it creates a noticeable impact on the States trade base and availability is yet to be seen.

Author: Peter Love

Pete was the General Manager of one of Australia’s largest home builders for six years, before starting his own business as a buyers’ advocate, building over 200 homes in five years across South East Queensland and working with over 20 builders to deliver them. Across this time he has seen most facets of the industry, the good, the bad, and the beautiful.