Storms

Devastating storms in the Hunter, Newcastle and Central Coast regions of NSW saw tens of thousands of NRMA Insurance customers suffer personal trauma and property loss in June 2007. Once again, while the storms still raged, NRMA Insurance people were in the first wave of relief services to respond.

The devastating storms which ravaged coastal NSW during the Queen's Birthday long weekend in June 2007 brought with them torrential rain, destructive winds and widespread blackouts. Power lines and trees collapsed, buildings were damaged, roofs swept away, hundreds of cars were abandoned, and sadly, lives were lost.

Tens of thousands of NRMA Insurance customers in Newcastle, the Hunter and Central Coast were hardest hit, with most of the region declared a natural disaster zone.

In the midst of the storms, NRMA Insurance was first on the ground. Dedicated claims and assessing employees from across the country formed part of the relief effort. In the two weeks following the storms, NRMA Insurance received more than 21,098 claims. We'd also allocated over 5,100 jobs to builders, over 2,400 to contents restorers and another 650 requests for carpet suppliers in the Newcastle region.

Suzanne Jolliffe, Assessing and Claims Operations Manager for Country North emphasised that many employees, despite having suffered personal loss and damage, rallied together in true community spirit to help customers rebuild their lives. "Our people across Australia have been outstanding, working together to honour our commitment to provide rapid assistance in times of crisis and to be there for customers when they need us most," said Suzanne.

Throughout this emergency, two of NRMA Insurance's major community partners, the Salvation Army Emergency Services (SAES) and the Volunteer Rescue Association (VRA), played a critical part in responding to people in need. This demonstrated the value of partnerships geared toward reducing risk in the community while working together to help our customers.

In the first days of the storms, 100 VRA members worked more than 3,280 hours and responded to around 450 calls for assistance. The SAES also offered their support at evacuation centres, and served over 28,000 meals and 38,000 refreshments to disaster relief workers and victims. It's at times like these that we are even more proud of our partnership with these organisations and the outstanding work performed by their many volunteers.

Another way that we assisted customers was with the NRMA Insurance Contents Collection Service, which was being trialled in Sydney prior to the storms. This free service involves dedicated collection trucks picking up damaged items from customers and taking them for re-use, recycling or disposal. Within a few weeks several thousand damaged household items were collected in the Newcastle area alone. NRMA Insurance customer Kevin Askie, whose home was badly damaged in the storm, was one of the people who had damaged furniture picked up by the service. "That collection truck was a God send," said Kevin. "We weren't sure what we were going to do with all our damaged items. We got a call, unexpectedly, from NRMA Insurance saying that they had this service to take away damaged items. Within a few hours two trucks arrived and took all the items away. It was fantastic."

David Issa, CEO of NRMA Insurance, said that helping our customers during times of crisis is something we truly pride ourselves on. "Part of running a sustainable business is being really effective at meeting customers' needs, and I am especially impressed with the way our people responded to the enormous challenges of dealing with such a major storm event. Processing claims efficiently, providing them with innovative solutions like the contents collection service, and working alongside our community partners, really shows that if you put your people and your company's reputation first, then strong business outcomes, including financial results, will follow," said David.

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