Storm insurance claims could 'take months or years'

An insurance professional has said the claims process following Storm Goretti could take a few months, or years for bigger claims.

Storm Goretti brought strong winds and heavy rain to the Channel Islands on Thursday night leaving fallen trees, structural damage and power outages.

Richard Headington, managing director of insurance firm Channel Island Adjusters, said there were still some claims to be completed following Storm Ciarán in 2023.

He said the "important thing" for home and property owners was to clear up if it was safe to do so, try to arrange temporary repairs, take photographs of damage and wait until approval before doing major permanent repairs.

Headington said it would take assessors a while to get out and view all the damage across the islands.

"Friday was difficult, I tried to get out and pretty much all the roads I tried to get through were blocked," he said.

He said he hoped there would be more access to make assessments of the storm damage this week.

"It can take quite few months, if not even years, for some of these major claims to be sorted," he said.

"It's very much dependent on the availability of the contractors and obviously building materials to be able to get to the island and get things done."

He said there were a few major claims that were still being finished off from Storm Ciarán in 2023, especially in Jersey.

Headington said in terms of an overall cost for the island there would be an "initial idea relatively quickly in terms of the numbers ... but obviously it's going to take weeks, if not months to accurately cost everything out".

He added: "I do think the number of claims to the insurance industry and Guernsey this time will be higher than Ciarán definitely."

If storms became a more regular occurrence they would affect premiums, Headington said.

"What the insurance industry may do is look to increase policy excess when it comes to storm damage," he said.

He added he thought the companies might require property owners to do more regular maintenance checks as a result.

"Storms like this just affect everybody, it's very difficult what you can do in terms of limiting the potential damage other than making sure the property is as well maintained as it possibly can be," he added.

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