How to claim for storm damage to your home
The spring and summer months are a glorious time in Australia – longer days, loads of sunshine, temperatures on the rise. But spring also heralds the arrival of summer storms that can range from an inconvenient downpour to a devastating cyclone.
Preparing your home for storm season is a great start, but what happens if your home or belongings are damaged during a storm? Does your home insurance even cover storm damage? And how do you start the repair process?
Is storm damage covered by home insurance?
You may be wondering if your AAMI Home and Contents Insurance policy covers you for storm damage – it does!1 While some exclusions apply, you should always read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and your policy documents to confirm any limits, conditions and exclusions that may apply.
Explore AAMI Home and Contents Insurance
What to do after a storm
Is everyone (including pets) safe?
The first thing is to make sure everyone’s safe. If there’s any obvious damage to your property, like broken windows or rainwater coming in under doors, make sure no one goes near it until it’s cleaned up or contained.
Don’t forget to check on your pets because thunder and lightning may scare them. If possible, bring any outdoor pets inside before the storm hits.
Assess and document the damage
Once everyone’s safe, it’s time to check your home for storm damage. If possible, document all damage by taking photos and videos, and making a list. Making a claim in the AAMI App makes adding photos a breeze – no more worrying about deleted photos or fussing around trying to send images via email.
Things to look out for inside your home include:
- Broken windows – note down the room and how many windows are damaged.
- Wet carpets – this may be hard to photograph so make a note of the room and approximate size of the damaged area. If the carpet is completely soaked and needs to be removed for health and safety reasons, you can remove the damaged carpet – just keep a 1m2 sample (including underlay).
- Watermarked or leaking ceilings.
- Water coming in through power outlets and light fittings.
Once outside, please be aware of damaged or fallen powerlines – especially in and around debris – and fallen trees and branches. Hanging tree branches can fall at any moment so, if in doubt, stay away and wait for help to arrive.
While some damage will be easy to spot, damage to roofing may be a little harder to detect. If you suspect roof damage, please don’t go up to have a look, leave this to the experts.
As you’ve done inside, take clear photos and videos, note down any damage you can see and upload these to your claim in the AAMI app.
Making a home insurance claim for storm damage
With everyone safe and the damage to your home or contents documented, it’s time to lodge your claim. You may find it quicker – and easier – to begin the claims process using the AAMI app or making a claim online.
After a major storm, you may need emergency assistance or temporary accommodation. When you contact us to make your claim, we’ll do what we can to help (subject to the terms of your policy).
Once you’ve submitted your claim, we’ll often send a builder or assessor to your home to evaluate the damage and discuss what will happen next.
Prepare for storm season
Aussie weather can be unpredictable so it’s good to be prepared. Check out our storm preparation guide, and login to make sure your AAMI home insurance policy is up to date and you have enough cover.
And don’t forget to download and set up the AAMI App. It makes managing your policy easy and if you ever need to make a claim for storm damage, your policy details are already in the palm of your hand.
Read more:
- Affected by flood? Here's what to do
- Preparing your family and home for natural disasters: bushfires, cyclones, floods and more
- A guide to creating and maintaining your home inventory
[1] We don’t insure you for storm or storm surge in the first 72 hours of your policy. Very limited exceptions apply. Read the PDS
Insurance issued by AAI Limited ABN 48 005 297 807 trading as AAMI. Read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement before buying this insurance. The Target Market Determination is also available. This advice has been prepared without taking into account your particular objectives, financial situation or needs, so you should consider whether it is appropriate for you before acting on it.