Flooded

Hi Scott,

My parents were recently evacuated in the early hours of the morning and taken to temporary accommodation. Their property is flooded and the farm has sustained major damage. They are still reeling but I want to support them, and I know there is about to be a lot of paperwork. What’s your advice?

Kate

Hi Kate,

This takes me back to the bushfires of 2020.

I was sitting on a makeshift card table in the local town hall helping survivors.

The two things I learnt from that experience was:

It’s natural to be overwhelmed at the enormity of what’s hit you, and what you have ahead of you.

And, in the first few weeks of a natural disaster it’s chaos. The Government is still formulating its plans, and the insurance companies are … lawyering up. So my advice to your parents — and you, if you’re helping them — is to hold tight on the finance front for a few weeks. Don’t sign anything, don’t agree to anything — and if you do, remember there’s a cooling-off period.

However, there is something you can do: hook your parents up with a rural financial counsellor (1800 007 007). The counsellor will be able to take down your parents’ details, read through their insurance policies, and investigate what grants are available – or might become available in the weeks and months ahead.
Finally, after such a traumatic event, being with them is probably the best thing you can do right now. Good luck.

Scott.