Sedgwick's CAT review gives you an insight into our response to the devastating bushfire season that’s known as the black summer of 2019-2020 – highlighting just some of the challenges we faced and how we overcame them.
We’ve also tried to capture a little of what happened behind the scenes. From setting up an efficient CAT response operation to thinking outside of the box and going the extra mile to make things right for customers. How we were one step ahead in dealing with a huge influx of prevention of access claims, through to making sure we collaborated and communicated with everyone in the process.
- CAT planning and preparation: An unprecedented bushfire season
- Black summer timeline: Bushfire events as they unfolded
- Prevention of access claims: Setting new standards
- Bushfires in numbers: The impact on area, land and business
- Batemans Bay: Settling claims, helping people
- Kangaroo Island: Devastation of the Wilderness Retreat and Eco Lodge
- Collaborating and communicating: For great customer outcomes
- Caring for vulnerable customers: Extra help and support
- Rural areas hit hard: Supporting struggling farmers
- Building contractors: Rebuilding homes, restoring lives
- CAT management: The future challenges
The major loss we handled on Kangaroo Island was tragic – so much of the wildlife perished. The fires impacted many rural and remote properties, which made farm and livestock losses a key feature of this catastrophe. We also took extra special care of customers – particularly those who were vulnerable and finding it difficult to cope. Our building contractors went out of their way to care for people and suggest affordable options for those who were underinsured.
As loss adjusters and claims handling experts, we have the technical skills to help put things back to how they were, but behind every claim there’s a person – a victim.
We see devastation firsthand and the raw emotions of traumatised people – worried about their family, home, business, or simply where they’re going to sleep that night. Our adjusters aren’t trained counsellors, but emotional intelligence is a critical skill.
As climate change continues to drive unpredictable and unstable weather patterns, our ability to plan, prepare and respond to the challenges of extreme CAT events will become increasingly important in the future. In any major crisis, we set out to help people and make a real difference. In the black summer of 2019 - 2020, I feel we really achieved that. At Sedgwick, caring counts.
Read the full catastrophe review of Australia's black summer.