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In short:
Residents forced into temporary accommodation have told a parliamentary inquiry of ongoing battles with insurance companies.
The insurance council says it is working with government and partners to improve outcomes.
What's next?
The inquiry report is due by the end of September.
Flood victims say insurers are bullying them into accepting "lowball" payouts while their homes remain unliveable seven months on from record flooding in Far North Queensland.
The Queensland Reconstruction Authority said 1,863 properties were damaged, including 20 being destroyed, in Cairns and the surrounding regions by flooding and heavy rain caused by Tropical Cyclone Jasper in December last year.
Port Douglas family support worker Erin Easton has advocated for flood victims while enduring her own nightmare.
Ms Easton and her family have been living in a caravan on their Wonga Beach property, 1.5 hours' drive north of Cairns, after their home of 12 years flooded days before Christmas.
Their house was insured for $700,000, but Ms Easton finally accepted a payout of less than $200,000 to rebuild it.
"To get to where we got to has been mentally draining, exhausting, and has worn me down to literally nothing," she said.
Ms Easton gave evidence to the federal parliamentary economics committee's inquiry into insurers' responses to major flooding, which sat in Cairns this week.
She told of her ordeal in agreeing on a scope of works with the insurance company's "preferred" builders.
She said many people she had helped in a professional capacity were having similar experiences.
"We have had clients finding a scope of works that is $40,000 under the rebuild cost of their home," she said.
After challenging her own home's scope of works six times, which caused many delays, Ms Easton said she secured a payout $60,000 more than she was initially offered.
"They are trying to bully you into feeling like you have no other options but to settle for whatever it is they're offering you," she said.
"You do have rights. Just because your insurance company tells you one thing, it doesn't mean that you have to agree with that."
Time-consuming process
Mossman resident Danielle Morache said she had spent five hours a week managing her own insurance claim and that of an elderly neighbour after the flooding.
Ms Morache, her husband and their nine-year-old daughter have been preparing to move rental properties for the fifth time since their home was flooded in December.
On top of battling two insurers to get a higher payout figure and finding money to pay for accommodation, Ms Morache said much of her time was spent chasing tradespeople and builders to quote or to finish work.
"I wanted the insurance to pay and I didn't want the stress but the reality is I've ended up project managing my own job," she said.
Ms Morache told the parliamentary committee she wanted insurers to be held more accountable and to treat claimants better.
"They constantly try to disadvantage you to save money," she said.
"I have had multiple fights with them that I've won."
Recommendations considered
Inquiry chair Daniel Mulino said the insurance industry needed to treat customers more fairly.
"It's highly inappropriate for customers to be dealt with in that way, where the onus is put on them to prove that something happened, where an insurance company might try to put pressure on a client to accept a lowball offer," he said.
"These kinds of practices need to be stamped out."
Dr Mulino said it was likely he would recommend more handlers, assessors, strengthening of the General Insurance Code of Practice, and giving the Australian Securities and Investments Commission more power to investigate insurers.
"I'm pretty confident with making recommendations that those information-gathering powers be strengthened," he said.
He said the inquiry was also considering the potential for a nationwide scheme where the federal government could buy back flooded homes.
"That's expensive and so that really has to be a longer-term strategy," Dr Mulino said.
The inquiry report is due by the end of September.
The state government launched a voluntary buyback scheme after the 2022 flood emergency, giving victims the opportunity to sell their disaster-affected homes.
While the program was funded by the state and Commonwealth, the properties were acquired and subsequently managed by local governments.
Claims closing
An Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) spokesperson said 57 per cent of Cyclone Jasper claims had been closed.
"The time required to settle or resolve a claim depends on the type of claim, the assessment and analysis that's required to make a claim decision, and the complexity of the repair or settlement," the spokesperson said.
"The ICA will continue to work with government and industry partners to help improve the insurance outcomes for customers."
The ICA said $357 million had been paid out from 9,950 insured losses as at June 30.