00:01When the rains hit Cardwell last February, they hit in force.
00:09The small coastal town copped more than a metre of rain in just five days.
00:1470 houses were flooded. Julia Hernings was one of them.
00:19So we had the water that had come through the roof in the ceiling.
00:23We ended up with quite a bit of black mould.
00:26A year later, her house is still just a shell.
00:31You get quite emotional.
00:33The disability pensioner has cycled through four short-term rentals and has no idea when she'll be able to go
00:40home.
00:41You just have to hit walls and hit doors and do what you can to help, but you just go
00:48around in circles.
00:49She insured her home with Shore Insurance because its premiums were thousands less than others.
00:56I don't understand. I don't understand the time frame.
01:00I don't understand why. I don't understand the messing around.
01:05In nearby Ingham, Robin and Ron Powell have arrived home after a year bouncing between relatives' houses across Queensland and
01:14interstate.
01:14They were told by Shore Insurance their house was ready for them to move back in.
01:19Instead, they found electrical problems, incomplete tiling and no plumbing.
01:25We pay for a service.
01:28The service just doesn't seem to take responsibility from top to the bottom to the builders of achieving the goal,
01:38which is to get their people back into a house.
01:41Shore Insurance says 17 of its customers in the area are not yet home since the 2025 flood,
01:49but it expects to have the majority back in by the end of March.
01:53The company says major weather events significantly spike trade demand,
01:58which is adding to claim repair times.
02:0080 per cent of claims from the 2025 event have now been settled, according to the Insurance Council.
02:08But experts warn that long delays in resolving flood claims are all too common.
02:13The stress on households is unbearable.
02:16You know, we do have mechanisms for households to dispute and to, you know, take recourse against their insurer,
02:24their insurer, but it's often at such cost to the household.
02:28The cost is not only financial.
02:31The strain of this year-long battle, with little end in sight, has taken its toll.
02:36Mentally, physically and emotionally, I've gone to pieces.
02:40It is so very hard to hold that anger in because that's what it is.
02:46You just are so frustrated.
02:47It feels like there is nothing you can do to achieve the end goal.
02:54You just seek it.
02:55You
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