The deadly Gold Coast Christmas storms have resulted in the largest number of disaster grant applications in Queensland’s history, but there is a damage bill that will leave many property owners out of pocket.
Key points:
- The green waste could take months to clear
- Much of the damage is not covered by insurance
- Some residents say they will struggle to afford the clean-up bill
“We’ve got an awful lot of mess to clean up,” Wongawallan resident Richard Collard says.
“One of the big problems is the branches that are still suspended in trees.”
Mr Collard is talking about what arborists call “hangers” — broken branches tangled precariously in tree canopies across the region.
Removing the dangerous branches is expensive and the process is not covered by insurance.
“That’s an expense that’s going to have to be borne by me and anybody else who is in the same situation,” Mr Collard says.
Early estimates from the Gold Coast City Council suggest the storm created roughly 75,000 truckloads of debris.
Mayor Tom Tate said the pile of green waste would cover an area equivalent to 90 football fields and stand at 2 metres high.
Tree loppers in high demand
Arborist Jessica Gilbert said there was so much demand for tree clearing across the region that companies were travelling from Sydney to help with the work and that she had stopped advertising for business.
“It’s definitely the most work we’ve seen in quite a few years,” she said.
Ms Gilbert said the “widow maker” branches could be difficult to deal with.
“Sometimes it’s just too dangerous — sometimes you need to get a crane in,” she said.
“It really depends on the situation.”
Ms Gilbert said it could cost thousands to clear a heavily impacted property.
“We actually have had some cases where the job has been so urgent that the customer has been just saying, ‘I’ll pay it out of pocket, I just want it safe,'” she said.
‘Insurance isn’t a warranty’
Fallen trees and branches can be dangerous but many are yet to damage property, which is why removing them is not covered by insurance, according to Insurance Council of Australia chief executive Andrew Hall.
“It’s when the damage occurs, that’s when an insurance policy responds,” he said.
“Insurance isn’t a warranty — insurance responds when the damage has occurred.
“If policies were covering that sort of work, you would see premiums increase substantially.
“You can’t claim on the car accident you think you might have next week.
“People have a responsibility to keep their home safe.”
‘Don’t have $20k laying around’
Mr Collard said a previous quote from an arborist to remove and mulch two trees on his property came in at about $5,000.
He expects much more work will need to be done in the wake of the storm.
But he does not have the money sitting in the bank and would like to be able to draw from his superannuation fund to pay for the work.
Mr Collard was told that would not be possible, but said the money would not count for much in the worst-case scenario.
“Super isn’t gonna be much good to me when I retire if I’m dead from a falling tree,” he said.
Super can sometimes be released on compassionate grounds and restrictions on access were eased at the height of the COVID pandemic.
Mr Collard has written to MPs to see if there is a possibility he can access his retirement fund.
If he cannot, he may need to refinance his home or take out a personal loan to do the work.
“But I don’t want to do that — who wants to go into more debt?” he said.
“I don’t have $20,000 laying around to be able to put into cleaning up and getting trees lopped.
“So hopefully something can be done to help everybody — the people who don’t have the big bank balance that can just pull it out and say, ‘Fix this.'”
