NRMA denied my storm damage claim, how do I fight it?

Storm damage denials follow a familiar script: the insurer’s assessor attributes the damage to wear and tear, gradual deterioration, or pre-existing defects rather than the storm event. That attribution is an opinion, not a verdict, and under the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 and the General Insurance Code of Practice, you are entitled to the written reasons for the denial and copies of the reports the insurer relied on, including assessor and expert reports. Request them immediately; denials frequently soften once the underlying report has to withstand scrutiny.

Then test the reasoning. Was there a verifiable severe weather event at your address on the claimed date, Bureau of Meteorology records answer this. Does the damage pattern match storm impact rather than slow deterioration, your own dated photos before and after, and an independent report from a builder or engineer, answer that. Insurers commonly lean on maintenance exclusions, but an exclusion only defeats the claim to the extent the excluded cause actually caused the loss; storm damage to an imperfectly maintained roof is still storm damage where the storm did the damage. Section 54 of the Act also limits an insurer’s ability to refuse claims over acts or omissions that did not cause the loss.

Run the dispute through NRMA’s internal dispute resolution in writing: claim number, the denial reasons, your evidence, and the specific outcome you seek. The insurer must respond within the Code’s IDR timeframe, broadly 30 days. If the denial stands or the clock runs out, escalate to AFCA, which is free, independent and binding on the insurer. AFCA weighs the competing expert evidence, and insurer denials built on thin assessor reports have a long record of being overturned there, which is also why a well-documented IDR complaint so often produces a revised offer before AFCA is needed.