A new crisis faces some victims of the April super storm, as they discover that many insurance companies do not cover storm damage to retaining walls on residential properties.
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NRMA has told Aberglasslyn man John Thomas that his insurance policy would not cover major damage to a 1.4-metre high retaining wall at the back of his home, which blasted bricks towards his neighbour’s house when the storm hit on April 21.
Mr Thomas faces an estimated repair bill of $75,000 that may have to come from his own pocket if the rejection of his insurance claim is not overturned.
He is urging other Hunter residents to carefully check their insurance policies to make sure they are properly covered.
A Mercury search of Product Disclosure Statements showed that many insurance companies excluded flood and storm damage to retaining walls in their home building policies.
One Path was the only company of several that the Mercury searched that provided cover for storm damage to retaining walls.
Companies such as Youi, QBE and Allianz are among the firms that do not provide the cover.
Mr Thomas, an NRMA customer of 28 years who has never made a claim during that period, told the Mercury that storm water ran into his backyard pool and caused it to overflow.
He said the water funnelled into a small expansion gap in the retaining wall, which put so much outward pressure on the brick wall that it exploded into his neighbour’s back door.
“You could see the water running down the hill into our backyard – it was like a waterfall,” Mr Thomas said.
“The retaining wall is not supposed to have a waterfall running into that [expansion] gap, so the pressure built up.”
The Mercury is aware of other residents across Maitland who have recently discovered that they would have to bare the cost of major repairs to retaining walls at their homes because their insurance companies would not cover the damage.
An NRMA Insurance spokeswoman said many companies did not provide cover for storm damage to retaining walls.
She urged people to read Product Disclosure Statements before signing an insurance policy.
An Insurance Council of Australia spokeswoman told the Mercury that it was up to individual insurers to determine whether retaining walls were covered under a home policy.
Mr Thomas said he had engineers and Maitland City Council experts sign off on the structure when it was built, so he thought his insurance policy covered damage to the wall.
He has taken his fight to the Department of Fair Trading.
