HAIL damage insurance claims resulting from the 20 October 2021 hail storm, are causing affected Coffs Coast residents sleepless nights and frustration as they battle with cursory assessments and being ignored.

Boambee East resident Roger Rudland-Wood is insured with NRMA.

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In fact, he has six policies across building, contents, cars and a Roadside Assist membership with NRMA.

Roger’s says his experience with NRMA working through his hail storm damage claim has been less than efficient yet more than common; with friends and fellow residents of the hard-hit Coffs Harbour region having issues with the same insurance provider.

Once his original claim went in, Roger was told an assessor from NRMA’s preferred builder, Rizon Building, headquartered in Milton, Queensland, would come to the property, inspect the damage and make a report.

“It was a cursory inspection – all of fifteen minutes, and he didn’t even come inside the house when I invited him in to make a full inspection,” Roger told News Of The Area.

“Naturally, he missed details of the damage and made an inaccurate and lacking report estimating the value of repairs to be around $8,000.”

Roger made numerous phone calls to NRMA to discuss the matter and was always told he would receive a call back, which he never did.

He phoned Rizon Builders to address the mistakes in the report and never once did anyone from the builder speak with him or call him back.

“I got on to Consumer Affairs, but they informed me it’s not their area, but they did put me on to the Underwriters at NRMA.

“The Underwriters were really helpful, and within one hour I got a call from an NRMA case manager – Tori, who was really helpful throughout the whole process.”

In the meantime NRMA sent out a second assessor, Northern Rivers Building.

“They were very thorough and took around two hours inspecting my property and talking with me.”

The Northern Rivers Building’s comprehensive report went to NRMA which revealed numerous omissions made by Rizon Building,

Eventually, through further emailing and conversations, Roger’s claim was settled at $16,930, twice the amount originally quoted from the Rizon Building report.

Roger has requested monetary settlement and he is appointing his own preferred builder to do the damage repairs.

Roger hopes sharing his experience will bring awareness to the sluggish initial response by NRMA Insurance and their preferred builder, Rizon Building’s cursory assessment.

“It was only when I went to the NRMA underwriters did my claim begin to make any progress.

“I have spoken with my neighbours, we do sit and chat, and every single one of them who is insured with NRMA complained about their October hail storm damage claim experience.

“Each can recount a tale of having to chase up and phone back and chase up, with many claims still unresolved even now, more than four months since making their claim.

“My issue is mainly with Rizon but that does not excuse NRMA.

News Of The Area asked the NRMA for a comment, and an NRMA Insurance spokesperson responded, “We always aim to help our customers as quickly as possible and provide them with the best possible experience.

“Following the severe storm we moved additional resources, such as assessors and builders, into the area to support our customers.

“We’ve apologised for the delay in finalising our customer’s claim.”

NOTA phoned and emailed Rizon Building and did not receive a response.

By Andrea FERRARI