Insurers for energy giant Powercor have paid out $10million in compensation associated with The Sisters/Garvoc St Patrick's Day fires but there are calls for the process to be sped up.
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Victim Jill Porter is calling on Powercor to speed up finalising insurance payouts after a settlement was reached more than five months ago following the 2018 fires.
Affidavits lodged with the Supreme Court on April 22 and May 2 by solicitor Matthew McDonald for "no costs" insurance victims allege Powercor breached the terms of settlement it entered into with bushfire victims.
The Hall & Wilcox solicitor stated in the documents an agreement was reached on December 9 following the Supreme Court trial settlement.
Powercor solicitors Wotton+Kearney were to identify which claims they accepted, which they rejected and identify which items they rejected by January 13.
Those items could include fencing, dwellings, fodder, stock, machinery, pasture or shelter. Many of those rejected items have still not been identified. But as of April 22 only five of 35 claims in dispute had been settled. There had been correspondence in relation to another 29 of the 35 disputed claims and one claim had "not progressed at all". Mr McDonald claimed in his first affidavit that Powercor's solicitor's approach was "causing unnecessary delay and incurring unnecessary costs".
Mr McDonald claimed in his first affidavit that Powercor's solicitor's approach was "causing unnecessary delay and incurring unnecessary costs".
He said Powercor's approach "was of significant concern to me".
"But, I was particularly concerned by the prospect of recovery being delayed or frustrated by the defendants' attempt to undertake the unusual and cumbersome process they appeared to have in mind," he stated.
"I was very concerned about the position of a number of plaintiffs who I understood to be experiencing financial difficulty that they expected to be ameliorated by prompt payment of settlement monies under the (settlement agreement)."
Mr McDonald claimed that further communication from Powercor's solicitors only led to exacerbate his concerns about what he described as Powercor's "inefficient and opaque process".
In his May 2 affidavit Mr McDonald said he had received additional offers in relation to 11 claims.
Mr McDonald has also raised concerns about Powercor appointing loss assessor Graham Peters.
It's understood Mr Peters is already the loss assessor for class actions involving the Parkerville bushfire in Western Australia and the Queensland floods as well as now both The Sisters/Garvoc and Terang/Cobden St Patrick's Day bushfires.
Mr McDonald said he understood that Mr Peters had an extremely heavy workload being engaged in multiple court proceedings across Australia and that he is contractually obligated to take leave this year.
A Powercor spokeswoman said the settlement process was being managed by its insurers and lawyers for the plaintiff group, Hall & Wilcox.
"However, we are disappointed in the comments by Hall & Wilcox as they don't fully represent what is happening in the settlement negotiations," she said.
"Powercor's insurers have already paid about $10 million to Hall & Wilcox. This includes full payment for undisputed claims and interim payments for claims where inadequate information has been provided. Unfortunately, our insurers are still waiting on information from Hall & Wilcox that will allow them to assess the remaining claims, some of which was requested before Christmas.
"On May 5 the Supreme Court set out the timetable for this matter to be progressed and we are fully complying with these orders.
"The court instructed Powercor to provide a list of the information that is still outstanding by May 18, and ordered Hall & Wilcox to respond by June 1."
Mrs Porter called for the process to be sped up.
"They would rather spend money on lawyers and drag out this process than be fair, honest and decent and pay for at least some of the damage they caused," Mrs Porter said.
"There is simply not a willingness to engage in a genuine process to finalise these claims so people can get the compensation they are owed.
"Some of the victims need this money to survive. It's the difference between economic survival and going to the wall."
Mrs Porter said that she understood there were hundreds of insurance assessors who could do The Sisters/Garvoc bushfire assessments.
"All we have ever asked is that Powercor take responsibility for the damage it has caused and take steps so that it never happens again," she said.
"There have been lives ruined by the bushfires the company's assets caused.
"The very least Powercor should do is finalise compensation payouts so the victims can at least try and move on."
Justice Tim Ginnane is now scheduled to return to court on June 25 after giving Powercor until May 18 to identify claims in dispute.
By June 1 solicitors for the victims have to provide any further information and by June 18 Powercor's legal team has to set out grounds for disputed claims.
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