Margaret Macintyre was pregnant with her fourth child when floods inundated her family home in north-western New South Wales.
“My youngest son Liam came running into the living room and said, ‘Mummy, we’ve got water in the back room!'” Ms Macintyre said.
In March 2021, rainfall records were broken across NSW.
Walgett had 200mm of rain in a week, compared to the monthly average of 36mm.
“I went out the back door and was up to my waist in water,” Ms Macintyre said.
“I turned off the electricity because the water was coming up through the floor. I got a big suitcase and just filled it with clothes. I didn’t know what I was taking.”
More than two and a half years later, the family has still not returned home after a dispute with their insurer over flood cover.
Fighting for the family home
Margaret had a miscarriage in the days after the flood.
“It was hard. It was about three days after I found out I had lost the heartbeat,” she said.
The family of five stayed in a motel room for the next three months while they tried to settle their claim with their insurer.
After seven months, they received some money in a payout on their home insurance.
By this time they had moved into a rented house, while still paying utility bills and a mortgage on their damaged property.
The insurer sent a contractor to assess the damage and in May 2022 offered $45,437 for repairs.
The house was insured for $500,000.
“I read and read and read all the policies and I said, ‘Something doesn’t add up,'” Ms Macintyre said.
She and her husband, who were expecting another child at the time, turned down the offer.
“Otherwise I’ll be living in a rented house and paying off a mortgage for the rest of my life,” she said.
“I don’t want my children to think this is how mum and dad look after them. I felt like a complete mess.”
Mrs Macintyre had the damage assessed by a local independent builder, who advised that the house would have to be demolished and rebuilt.
“The water went all the way through and now the house is just wobbly and after leaving it for so long, the mould has grown through it,” she said.
In September 2022, a year and a half after the flood, the insurer made a second offer of a cash settlement of $50,537.
Mrs Macintyre said her husband was tempted to accept it because they needed the money.
“I phoned my mother-in-law a couple of times and cried my eyes out and said I can’t take it any more,” she said.
Final resolution reached
The insurer responded to the ABC’s questions about the dispute in a statement.
A spokesman said when it began assessing the Macintyres’ home, it found problems with the original structure that were grounds for refusing to pay full cover.
“The pre-existing problems meant that the property did not comply with the relevant building regulations and standards,” the spokesman said.
“How can you insure a house and say ‘yes, we’re prepared to pay you’, but then when it’s damaged you say it wasn’t up to Australian standards?” Ms Macintyre said.
She lodged a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) earlier this year.
The AFCA, whose members include banks and insurers, said the leading cause of complaints in general insurance was delays in settlement.
It received 7,953 complaints about delays in the last financial year, a 66 per cent increase on the previous year.
In an unexpected turn of events, the insurer called Ms Macintyre six weeks ago and said her claim would be settled with full cover paid plus 12 months’ rent.
“We understand this has been a stressful time for our customer and we’ve apologised for the delays while we worked to finalise her claim,” the insurer told the ABC.
Ms Macintyre credits the close-knit town of 5,000 people, where she moved with her husband six years ago, for providing moral support.
“This town is pretty much like a family,” she said.
