Eight months after a freak hailstorm hit the suburbs of Coffs Harbour, Fiona Harris is still fighting to have the holes in her roof fixed.

The Sawtell resident arrived home on the night of the storm to find water pouring through her damaged roof.

"The water was leaking through the power in the garage, and all my walk-in robes were wringing wet," she said.

Ms Harris says she immediately contacted her insurer, Youi, who contracted workers to repair the damages. 

But several months into the repairs, Ms Harris said Youi ceased building works citing difficulties with access to the property and contention over pre-existing damage.

She said the insurer instead offered a cash settlement of $250,000.

However, Ms Harris said when she engaged a local builder for a quote, she was told the repair cost was predicted to be more than double the amount Youi had offered.

"I've got to find my own builders, I've got to get tradesmen that want to pick this up — there's a lot of work in front of me," Ms Harris said.

Ms Harris is currently living in temporary accommodation being paid for by Youi.

She says while the arrangement is comfortable, she is desperate to be back in her own home.

"It's clean and tidy, and that's fine – but it's not really designed for long-term accommodation – I need proper facilities," Ms Harris said.

Ms Harris says she has had to regularly see a medical specialist during the ordeal, with a usually manageable autoimmune disease being made worse.

"They've had to put me on extra medication — I have to have tests every week to make sure that I'm OK.

Settlement offer 'generous,' Youi says

In a statement, Youi Insurance said it had finalised 96 per cent of claims it received from clients over the hailstorm.

It said the claims not finalised were predominantly those lodged over the past couple of months.

"Youi prides itself on the quality of its claims service and has been working to resolve Ms Harris' claim as quickly as possible," a Youi spokesperson said.

The insurer said finalising Ms Harris' claim had been delayed due to contention over pre-existing damage to the house unrelated to the storm.

It also said it had been difficult for tradespeople to get access on several occasions. 

"Our settlement offer to Ms Harris is a generous one, which will more than adequately pay for all repairs to her property and contents," the spokesperson said.

Cash offer due to building sector constraints, lawyer says

Ms Harris's solicitor, Bree Smith, is helping her in taking her complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, which has the power to assess and settle complaints outside of court. 

Ms Smith said insurance companies might look to offer settlements of this nature due to current constraints on the building sector.

"I believe that insurers will be trying to cash-settle claims because of the increased building costs and supply demands that are impacting Australia at this time," she said.