Leading insurance company sets up base in Innisfail
Australian Pensioners Insurance Agency (Apia) has opened an office in Innisfail.
The move is part of a major cyclone relief program to assist customers in Innisfail, Tully, Atherton and other areas.
The company is managing 2600 claims as a result of damage caused by Cyclone Larry.
According to Apias State Manager for Queensland, David Atchison over 95 per cent of those claims have been assessed.
The company has already paid out $1,200,000 in claims.
"We understand the devastating impact the Cyclone has had on local people and their communities," David Atchison said.
"We have a responsibility to make a major effort to manage customer claims as quickly and efficiently as possible.
"We are focussing on getting lives back to normal. We also know the recovery from Cyclone Larry will take many months.
"We are here for the long haul. That is why we have started another office in Innisfail.
"It is important that our customers have the chance to talk with our trained staff. They have told us they value personal contact. So we have set up shop in Innisfail," he said.
Apia has a permanent office in Cairns with four staff. They will coordinate their Cyclone Larry work with the new Apia office in Innisfail.
Apia staff have been operating out of a motorhome in Innisfail to meet with local customers.
The new office is located in the Central Shopping Centre at 20 Edith Street Innisfail. It has two staff Working Full-time Monday to Friday and Saturday mornings.
Apias response to Cyclone Larry has been one of the largest in the companys history.
It has over 30 staff in Innisfail, Cairns, Brisbane and Melbourne working on claims from Cyclone Larry.
It has also contracted three major firms with 130 experienced assessors to work through the claims it has received.
The claims vary from destruction of houses through to damage to windows and food spoilage," David Atchison says.
"All claims are important to our customers.
"So our priority is to help them resume the lifestyle they had before the cyclone.
"For many of our customers that will involve major repairs or rebuilding of their homes.
"That will be a key activity in the coming weeks," David Atchison said.
Apia has built a major business by marketing insurance products and services for people aged 50 and over.
It is now a leader in this market providing home and contents, car, recreational vehicle and travel insurance.
In North Queensland it has regional offices in Cairns, Rockhampton and Townsville. They form part of a national network of 44 offices.
Brisbane, 1 May 2006
For further information contact:
David Atchison 07 3000 4933 or 0409 914 258
Ron Burke 03 8629 5705 or 0419 334 452
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