Hailstones battered more than 37,000 cars in January. Photo: Region Media.
Financial assistance for the thousands of Canberrans who had their cars damaged in January’s hailstorm has been extended until the end of October because of COVID-19.
The hail rebate package offered through Access Canberra has already provided assistance of more than $260,000 and received over 1,500 applications. It is estimated the hailstorm damaged 37,000 cars in the capital.
The rebates apply to any person who owned a privately registered ACT vehicle that was damaged in the January hailstorm, according to an ACT Government spokesperson.
The ACT Government has already cut registration fees to register a vehicle that replaces a car damaged in the hail storm. A replacement car costing $10,000 or less will receive a stamp duty rebate of up to $100 for private registration in the ACT until 30 June 2020.
Rebates are also available for people who have paid to have their damaged vehicle inspected, cancelled the registration of a damaged vehicle, have registered a replacement vehicle in the ACT, had their homes or businesses damaged, or lost income as a result of the storm.
More than 55,000 insurance claims totalling $514 million in damages were filed with insurers within a fortnight of the 20 January storm. Seventy per cent were for domestic motor vehicles, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) said.
However, as of early May, half to two-thirds of claims were still incomplete, depending on the insurer, because of delays caused by COVID-19, the ICA said.
Interstate workers have been unable to travel because of lockdown and social distancing measures while material shortages also added to the delay on insurance claims for houses and cars.
Gusts of up to 120 km/h and golf-ball-sized hail – with some as large as tennis balls – lashed the capital, resulting in thousands of emergency call-outs across the capital.
Canberrans whose vehicles were damaged in the hailstorm can apply for rebates online at Access Canberra or by calling 13 22 81. You do not need to attend an Access Canberra Service Centre to apply.
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Hopefully the government will recover the costs from the insurance companies.
Sam Neumann is this what you got??
No baby we didn’t get anything xx
Our insurance company can’t give us an answer as to whether or not our car has been written off - last call (we made!) they didn’t even know where the car currently was... it has been with them since they towed it the day after the storm
Sharon Woods that’s ridiculous!
Sharon Woods you’re with nrma right?
In the same boat as you Sharon. Haven't seen my car since it was towed away the day after. Vero insurance "lost" it for three weeks which meant there was a delay in repair and now we're waiting on a new windscreen. Turns out they opened two claims for the same car. Incompetence knows no bounds.
Anna Bruce it is unbelievable and so frustrating!! 😩 hoping yours is resolved soon
Fortunately my car was in its garage that day and undamaged, but I had over $5,000 worth of house damage. Solar hot water tubes, outside lights and sensors, etc smashed. I got plumbers and electricians in and had it fixed and then submitted the bill to my insurance. It took a couple of months for the payment (they quibbled nothing) to appear in my bank account, but I figured the delay was because they were very busy.
Karl did we claim?
Amanda Brown no, I still need to.
Get on it! $$ for us!
New bull bar and winch funds 😁
Maybe they should take over the NRMA customers because we are still having problems with NRMA fixing our home and our cars after the hail storm.
You pay your insurance just to get the run around when and if the NRMA finish they won't get anymore policy from me.
Colin Mitchell AAMI we’re no better.
Jennifer White everyone I know here in Canberra that is with Shannon's got paid out or there property repaired without any headache so I am told. If this is the case it's good to see an insurance company stand by their customers.
Colin Mitchell I had to surrender my car at the assessment centre then it took them 2 months to pay out my finance company. After many call chasing it up
Jennifer White that doesn't surprise me they want our money straight away or you are not covered BUT when it comes to them paying out we have to wait totally unfair.
Colin Mitchell NRMA were perfect for me.
Michael Robertson we had nothing but problems with house and cars and our house in Victoria is with RACV and it been a fight as well still trying to get stuff replaced after the fires is a headache.
Agree. I will be taking my business elsewhere.
Jennifer White was your car still drivable? If so you could keep it till you got a payout if not then it was a wait
Jorge Gatica yes it totally was. No broken glass or anything. They wanted it that day or I could have had it for a couple of days more only. It was very badly handled in
Jorge Gatica when NRMA was assessing the cars on the day in Hume I heard the assessor say to people there is some plastic bags get your belongings out of your car and we will take it from here. One lady had to call her own taxi because she didn't have the hire car on her policy but if you had the hire car on your policy they would call you a taxi to take you to thrifty. I seen a quite few people do this on the day.
Jennifer White my car was assessed as a write off as soon as they saw it, no broken glass either, they did ask me if I wanted to leave it or take it until all the claim was finalised, I decided to leave it and got paid out a few weeks later and was offered to buy back the car but I declined
Jorge Gatica much better service than I got. We’re you with AAMI also?
Jennifer White Shannon’s
Jorge Gatica that's the lot that is going to get my insurances once everything is fixed.
Colin Mitchell they were pretty good, I’ve been with them even before they were taken over by Suncorp,
Jorge Gatica well I won’t be insuring with AAMI again
My daughter is with Bingle and they did a fabulous job. Small hiccup between saying it will be repaired then replaced but after that she got a hire car until she picked up the (upgraded) replacement car today. They were fantastic
Adam Macie this would apply to you.
Angelina thanks, it looks like it doesn't really apply in our case as ours is repairable and not a write off
A very inequitable scheme. A lot of people were ineligible because of no comprehensive insurance, and still were up for many thousands in damages just to get cars back on the road let alone get them to a resalable condition.
Anne if you didn't have comprehensive insurance you made a decision on risk. That means you can still maybe drive the car if body damage as it isn't written off. the rebates are not dependent on insurance just that you might need to pay to have a vehicle assessment. But if you had to replace your car i believe you are still potentially eligible
If you don't have insurance that's the gamble they take. An accident or natural disaster can happen and expense is on the driver
Shane Guest I'm talking about the ACT rebates. Why should govt money overwhelmingly support people who already could afford premium insurance?
Juliet Jackman it would be interesting to see the numbers, but every person I know who replaced their car after the storm had comprehensive.
In terms of rego costs there was no refund of registration fees for people who had to wait months for new windscreens without access to a car.
Lea Backhus does dad know about this.
Tarran Betterridge Backhus it’s only if you had to get a new vehicle
Crystal Kennedy is this you? This is you right? Have you done this?
Amy Mungovan it's just a rebate off registering a new vehicle to replace the car. Nothing to help with my car :)
Crystal Kennedy ohhh I see, okay fair enough x
Crystal Kennedy it’s also small rebate if you cancelled your registration on a vehicle that was written off by the hail too
Jen Bright yeah, my car wasn't written off as I wasn't insured at the time.
Suza Belski not sure if you are aware of this
Lina Tiyce thanks for that I completely forgot about that. I’ll have to chase it up.