Arabic version: مالك صالة رياضية في سيمور يسعى إلى مراجعة جديدة لمطالبة تأمين ضد الفيضانات

According to ABC News, Seymour gym owner Adam Griffiths is still contesting an insurance decision nearly four years after the October 2022 floods, while seeking to reopen his complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.

Adam and Alex Griffiths’ gym was among six businesses on the same Seymour street without flood cover. All six were initially refused storm-related claims, but five insurers later accepted that stormwater had entered the businesses before river flooding arrived. Hollard has maintained its refusal of the Griffiths’ claim.

Mr Griffiths said stormwater entered the gym on the afternoon of October 13, 2022, damaging floors and equipment before floodwaters arrived. The Goulburn River peaked at Seymour at 8.26 metres in the early hours of the following morning, the town’s worst flood in more than a century. He took a second sales job to rebuild the gym without insurance assistance.

Hollard declined an interview, but said it had engaged an expert hydrologist who reviewed the material provided by Mr Griffiths and whose findings supported the original decision. The insurer said it would continue to work with the customer and representative if they supplied more information or sought a further AFCA review.

AFCA upheld Hollard’s refusal last year, finding insufficient evidence that stormwater alone could have caused the property damage. Mr Griffiths said a third hydrologist supports his claim and he hopes that evidence will allow the complaint to be reopened.