Apia boosts capacity to speed up cyclone damage assessments and repairs


Apia today announced it has increased its team of assessors and repairers in a bid to speed up the recovery process for its customers affected by Tropical Cyclone Marcia.

Apia’s assessors have been completing up to 80 home assessments every day since they were given access to homes last Tuesday. In less than a week, they have carried out more than 450 home assessments allowing for repairs to commence today.

Apia spokesperson, Angela Wilkinson, said the company was doing everything within its power to ensure customer claims were being handled as swiftly as possible.

“Residents in Central Queensland have been through a traumatic experience with many unable to return to their homes because they are uninhabitable. We want to help get them back into their homes as soon as possible and utilising our scale to ramp up capacity allows us to do that,” Ms Wilkinson said.

“Additional resources will mean homes assessments should increase to more than 100 a day after which time the extent of repairs required can be determined and allocated.

“The more home assessments we complete, the more repair works we can get underway,” she said.

Ms Wilkinson said Apia would continue to work with assessors, repairers and contractors to prioritise those customers who were displaced, the elderly and the infirm.

Apia customers can still lodge claims in person with its Customer Response Teams at the Rockhampton and Yeppoon Recovery Centres, over the phone 24 hours a day on 13 50 50 or online at www.apia.com.au.