A ‘catastrophe declaration’ from the Insurance Council of Australia escalates and prioritises the insurance industry’s response to support policyholders affected by the natural disaster that triggered the declaration.

A catastrophe declaration means:

1. Claims from affected policyholders are given priority by insurers.
2. Claims will be triaged to direct urgent assistance to the worst-affected property owners.
3. ICA disaster response specialists are mobilised to the affected location to work with government agencies, emergency services, local agencies and affected policyholders.
4. Insurers mobilise their disaster response specialists to assist their affected customers with claims and assessments as soon as emergency services say it is safe to do so.
5. An insurance industry taskforce is established to identify and address insurance related issues arising from the natural disaster