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Damage bill soars past $100M in Tasmania after catastrophic storm

Posted on Wednesday, 27 June 2018 by social

 

A RUSH of insurance claims from Hobart’s catastrophic storms has pushed the damage bill above $100 million.

Claims for private property have reached nearly $81 million, a jump of more than $35 million in the past two weeks. Added to that is the public infrastructure bill from local government, which sits at more than $27 million — bringing the total damage bill to $108 million.

The next six-figure insurance claim, yet to be lodged, is expected to come from the University of Tasmania. The Sandy Bay campus suffered significant losses in the May 10-11 storms and the damage bill is expected to be many millions of dollars.

The Insurance Council of Australia said the claims for loss of private property were continuing to come in from residents and business owners in southern Tasmania.

The total claims bill had shot up significantly in the past fortnight, with more people coming forward with claims and other claims growing from their original estimate. At the end of last week, a total of 7912 claims had been lodged — up 1166 claims from May 30.

Hobart Mayor Ron Christie said the council’s damage bill remained at $25 million, and the clean-up was progressing well. Kingborough Council, which also suffered significant damage, expects the losses to go above $2 million.

Source: The Mercury