About Us.

We have lived in Jan Juc for most of our adult lives and run our own small business from a workshop in Torquay, manufacturing signs for the blind and vision impaired. Our children were only 8 and 5 years old when this all started (the age they were in this photo), so this entire experience has had a terrible impact on their childhood and sense of stability and security. They are now nearly 14 and 11 and have lost most of their childhood to this awful ordeal.

 

The following provides an account of everything we have gone through due to AAMI's failed and incomplete restoration and Suncorp's inaction to resolve it, which has cost our family so much.

 

 

 

AAMI sprayed a known allergen into my home, despite me telling them not to, then tried to cover it up, then refused to fix it.

We found mould in our home in 2016, and our life-long insurer AAMI investigated and accepted our claims for various water leaks. Their inspections confirmed significant mould issues, which they promised to remediate safely. But AAMI severely messed up the mould remediation by using a chemical they knew I was allergic to, which I had previously told them they could not use. AAMI's actions caused chemical fume contamination and destroyed our contents and our ability to live in our own home safely. Then they walked away. Nearly six years later, my family is still unable to return home, with AAMI refusing to take responsibility for the damage and loss they have caused.

 

 

 

I have allergies resulting in anaphylaxis, so I advised AAMI not to use any chemical treatments for the mould.

AAMI told me they could not treat the mould any other way and would only accept my claims if I agreed, which I reluctantly did after ensuring all parties were fully briefed on my allergies to salicylates. Following several phone calls, emails, and detailed onsite in-person meetings to address my allergy concerns, AAMI promised they would research and undertake only safe mould treatment options, which would not pose any allergy risk. AAMI was so well aware of the seriousness of my allergies following these briefings that they placed us into alternate accommodation whilst treating the house.

 

 

 

When we returned home some days later, I suffered severe allergic reactions upon entering our home and continued to do so for the coming months.

Despite my history, pre-treatment requests, and multiple doctors' reports following the event, AAMI still refuses to accept responsibility for using a known allergen in my home.

 

When I first fell ill, AAMI were very apologetic and offered to look into what had gone wrong, promising to find a way to fix it. But shortly after, they closed ranks and abruptly closed our claims, despite having accepted claims within a valid policy and repairs not being complete. They walked away mid-renovation, leaving our home and contents damaged and contaminated, with exploratory holes in the walls and ceilings, extremely high mould readings, and dangerous chemical fume contamination. They cut off our temporary emergency accommodation, which is required under our policy, leaving us homeless (we moved nine times in the first 18 months alone). AAMI failed to reimburse us for covered contents and agreed repairs, leaving us significantly in debt.

 

 

 

When I first fell ill due to AAMI's mould treatment, they told me they only used "water and a damp cloth", but my level of constant sickness told me this couldn't be right.

My treating doctors and I repeatedly asked AAMI for information on the chemical spray they used in the home to assist with my medical treatment. Still, AAMI refused to respond to requests, initially falsely advising they only used water and a damp cloth and continually stating that no spray treatment was used.

 

 

 

More than 12 months later, AAMI finally admitted to using a chemical treatment to treat the mould containing the chemical I told them I could not be exposed to.

Eventually, over 12 months later, AAMI admitted to using a chemical mould treatment containing salicylates. This situation forced my family to move into emergency accommodation early in 2017, which AAMI initially agreed to pay for, but only when my breathing was so compromised from repeated allergic reactions that I thought I would not survive. I was so ill from the mould exposure and spray treatment, that one doctor advised I am at "significant risk of death" from repeat anaphylaxis if I return to the house in its current state, with reports categorically stating the home is unsafe and unliveable due to chemical fume contamination and the mould AAMI failed to eradicate.

 

 

 

I even had one of AAMI's experts call me while recovering from an anaphylactic reaction to yell at me and abuse me.

At a time when I could barely speak because my breathing was compromised from suffering an allergic reaction, I received a call from one of AAMI's experts who was overseeing the mould remediation. This person yelled at me and accused me of lying about my allergic reaction. They told me I didn't have an allergic reaction because no chemicals were used in the attempted remediation, only water. Instead, this person told me I must have suffered my allergic reactions from something I ate or from the cleaning products at the hotel room AAMI had moved us to. It was an extremely confusing, upsetting and shocking exchange when I was ill, which added so much unnecessary stress to everything else that was going on.

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AAMI’s lawyers also have little respect for us or our home. And showed little understanding or compassion for our situation.

Early in the legal proceedings, we received a phone call from a person advising they were from a law firm representing AAMI. She stated she was at our home with an assessor and could not get in, were we home? At that time, we were on speaker phone, with our children in the car with us, and we had to explain we are currently unable to live in our home due to the situation, so she will have to give us some notice to organise a key for her, and make arrangements to come back another time. She complained about how far she had driven to get there, asking why we couldn’t meet her to let her in? We politely explained our situation again, also noting we were about 3 hours away, and she asked us to drive back to let her in! When my husband advised that would not be possible, she grew upset and ended the call, saying she would go to our nearby business and try to get a key from someone there.

 

We spoke to her again shortly after, explaining she was in no way to attend our business and bother our staff – none of whom have a key to our personal home anyway! She continued arguing that someone has to let her in. We tried to reason with her for a considerable amount of time, as she continued to insist she was getting into our home that day and not wasting her trip, as well as that of the assessor she was paying to be there, despite providing us with no forward warning of her impending visit. If she had contacted us earlier, we would of course have arranged for her to have access to the house, as we have done for all previous AAMI employees and assessors. We were just simply unable to physically help her at this time – we weren’t at the house, and there was no way for her to gain access without prior arrangement.

 

She became quite impatient and rude, and at this point she said she noticed a window open on the second story, so she would get the person with her to get a ladder and see if he could gain access through the window. I became quite upset then, and my husband very firmly explained that she could not break into our home! We may not be able to live there because of her client, but it is still our home! My husband made it very clear she was not to try to gain access on this day, and the call ended. It was incredibly stressful, and an upsetting exchange for our children to overhear.

 

After driving for a while longer, and talking about the situation, we agreed we would assist her, as we would need to arrange a way for their trades to have regular access to the home anyway, so we may as well find a solution today to help her out and save her a return trip. So, my husband called our local locksmith, and after discussing options, he said he would attend. When he asked for our address and Travis told him, he said “oh yes, I already had a call about this earlier, I’m booked to go unlock the door and cut a new key for her, I’ll be there shortly”. We were shocked, and furious. We told him not to attend, as it was not us who made those arrangements, but a stranger trying to gain access to our home without our consent. We immediately called our lawyer and explained what had happened. He assured us that he would handle things, and after such underhanded and disgraceful behaviour he planned to instruct her to leave the property immediately and not return until adequate notice and approval was given. We still look back in shock at all the appalling experiences we have suffered.

 

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AAMI never safely isolated, covered or treated the mould, leaving our family in a toxic environment for months. I was told to "just open a window" when I expressed my concern.

AAMI has failed us from day one when they left my family exposed to toxic mould for months after becoming aware of the mould and water damage issues. I reported the mould in August. In early September, AAMI sent out their assessor, who confirmed the presence of mould. But then AAMI took no action until November. Despite the assessor attending the house in early September, noting the high mould readings asking: "Do you have anywhere to go tonight?". During these months, the smell in our house was awful, and we held concerns for our family's health, but when we contacted AAMI asking for action, they did nothing or, on one occasion, suggested we "just open a window". During this time, the mould-affected rooms were not sealed off with the required dual zip-lock plastic doors, which we now understand is a standard safety requirement to contain mould spores. AAMI's initial assessor had covered the mould-affected area with a plastic covering, but unknown to me at the time, a subsequent assessor who attended the house unsealed the covering and left it unsealed.

 

When AAMI finally treated the mould, they placed an industrial air dryer in the room. They ran the air dryer for five days, 24 hours a day, spreading mould spores and chemical fume contamination throughout the house and into our contents as they dragged mouldy building materials through the house.

 

AAMI eventually sealed off the front door entrance with a plastic contamination screen, but this was ten months after their failed remediation and a year after we had informed them about the mould. It was all too late. And hardly useful when their assessors continued to come in and out of the home, upstairs and downstairs, unsealing the "safety" screen, and leaving it unsealed.

 

 

 

AAMI ignored an expert report they received confirming more mould had been found in my child’s bedroom and for the room to be immediately vacated and isolated. AAMI then withheld this report from us.

After AAMI's attempted mould remediation and we were told our house was safe, AAMI received a report advising of the presence of further mould in one of our children's bedrooms. The report recommended AAMI immediately arrange to vacate and seal off the room to undertake further investigation. Unfortunately, not only did AAMI not bother about taking action per their own report's recommendations, they also didn't bother to tell us our child had been sleeping and playing in a mould-infested room. As anyone with young children could imagine, we were horrified to learn AAMI did not tell us our child’s health was at risk. It was especially upsetting because I had been asking AAMI to include our bedrooms in the claim and ensure they were tested since the year prior.

 

Later, a builder quoting for repairs discovered more mould after AAMI told us (once again) it had all been removed.

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It was interesting to note this report stated that as mould was present, a plastic zip screen door should be installed. And they went on to note that “……This should have been installed at the time of spraying by the restoration company”.

 

 

 

AAMI confirmed our flooded mouldy carpet was non-salvageable, then left it in the home for months before only steam cleaning it and deciding that it was good enough. It wasn't.

AAMI seemed more interested in fighting us than helping us. For example, after one of our rooms flooded, AAMI left the water-drenched carpet untouched and untreated for nearly 11 weeks instead of taking action. They then told us the carpet could not be restored because of the water damage and mould (which was clearly visible and emitting a pungent smell). Both AAMI and their assessor told us that the carpet needed to be removed and replaced. Despite this, AAMI ignored our repeated follow up requests, only responding to attend and steam clean the carpet months later. They have since spent a large amount of money on multiple mould tests trying to prove that the water-damaged mouldy carpet is "within safe mould levels" – all at a significantly higher expense than it would have cost to replace the carpet. It would have been cheaper to simply replace the carpet, which AAMI had themselves deemed non-salvageable. This is a small example of what appears to be a deep cultural issue at AAMI never to acknowledge they are wrong.

 

 

 

AAMI have left us without our home or contents and in debt.

AAMI abruptly stopped all repairs to our home mid-renovation and stopped covering our temporary emergency accommodation. They have not reimbursed us for approved and agreed repairs; have not replaced or reimbursed our contaminated contents; and have left our home sealed off with plastic contamination tape at the front door (put there 10 months after their failed mould remediation and 12 months after they first accepted the claim). As a result, our home is damaged, unsafe and unliveable, with significant mould damage, and the exploratory investigation holes they made in walls and ceilings are still unfixed. There are a number of other expenses we have incurred or will need to incur to be able to return home safely. AAMI is yet to address the dangerously high mould readings that still exist in the home, nor have they found a solution to the chemical fume contamination they caused in the first place. If they had listened to me when I told them not to spray chemicals containing salicylates, I would think we might be back in our home by now.

 

 

 

AAMI took our clothing away to be laundered in summer but failed to return them. Then declined to reimburse us for replacement winter clothing which they previously authorised us to purchase.

This is another fail by AAMI. When we left our home in emergency circumstances, we expected AAMI to continue to remediate our house. In the summer of 2017, we moved into temporary emergency accommodation. By the winter of that year, we could still not return home or access any of our belongings. AAMI told us they would organise to launder our clothes. But until then, AAMI confirmed they would organise our children's winter school uniforms and some winter clothing in readiness for the new school term. That was in 2017, and we received our clothes about three years later.

 

We advised AAMI we required the return of our children's school uniforms in time for school. AAMI instead told us to purchase new school uniforms and provide them with a receipt for reimbursement. AAMI also told us we could buy other winter clothing essentials as the weather was getting colder. However, when we purchased new uniforms and basic clothing essentials, AAMI refused to reimburse us. Instead, AAMI stated, "we did not request you purchase clothing and buying new clothing does not put you at a loss". To be told this was gobsmacking and yet another example of the type of exasperating poor management decisions we have faced and suffered from AAMI for years.

 

 

 

AAMI told us to replace our roof before treating the mould because they said it was causing stormwater ingress. It wasn't. But, we took them at their word, replacing the roof as they had asked, at considerable expense. After further stormwater flooding in the same area of the house, AAMI told us the roof didn't need to be replaced at all but now won't pay the costs we incurred by following their expert advice.

This is yet another example of AAMI's frustrating mismanagement of our home repairs. We paid a lot of money to replace the roof because AAMI and their experts told us we had to. We expected AAMI to know what they're doing because they are in the business of fixing houses, so we replaced the roof as they asked. To be later told their advice was wrong after paying out of our own pocket to "fix" something that didn't need fixing is incredibly frustrating.

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AAMI's policy terms state they will fund temporary emergency accommodation in "like for like" housing, but not only did this never occur, the emergency accommodation was cut off because we were told our situation was unreasonable.

Our policy allows for temporary emergency accommodation, which AAMI advertises heavily. However, when we were unable to return home, AAMI stopped the emergency accommodation funding because they told us our situation was "unreasonable". Without family nearby and needing to stay locally for our business and the children’s school, our options were limited. There is only so much couch-surfing a family of 4 can do and maintain normality for both our children and the local friends we would be imposing on.

 

AAMI told us they would not help us find temporary accommodation. It was our responsibility, but AAMI had to approve the accommodation we sought, and they would cover no more than $200 per night. AAMI told us if we were to find accommodation they didn’t approve of, we would risk not receiving reimbursement. The irony, of course, is that AAMI stopped reimbursing us anyway!

 

We initially stayed in a cabin in the local caravan park, and then in small apartments with a small bar fridge and a single clothesline over the bath, using separate laundry facilities. Some of the houses we stayed in had no heating or cooling and broken appliances. Occasionally, we were lucky enough for AAMI to approve our stay in reasonable comfort.

 

Each day we managed. And by no means is it lost on us that people have less than a roof over their heads overnight. There were always adjustments and difficult conversations with our children. But, it’s difficult not to be put out by a company who are happy to advertise "if your home is damaged and your policy offers cover for a repair or rebuild, we'll cover accommodation costs for as long as that takes". Whatever that might look like in AAMI’s advertisements didn’t come close to our reality. Clearly, we did not receive the "like-for-like" promise AAMI so readily trot out. In fact, when they cut off our temporary accommodation, they had not safely eradicated our home of mould and had done nothing to fix the chemical contamination.

 

We always negotiated the cheapest rate we could at places we were staying because we thought AAMI would appreciate it. But, instead, these efforts were never acknowledged or appreciated, and it certainly didn't improve the way they treated us.

 

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AAMI failed to respond to emails, completely ignoring our pleas for help to find accommodation, often leaving us driving around with our meagre belongings in our car, not knowing where we would stay that night.

I actually have too many examples of ignored emails and ignored requests for help even to contemplate listing here. It is embarrassing for the staff involved.

 

As we had no furnishings or belongings, we needed to be accommodated in fully furnished rentals, and luckily for us living in a holiday town, there were lots of options for our temporary emergency accommodation. But they weren't cheap, and places booked out quickly and well ahead of time, especially during holiday peaks, at which time the prices also rose significantly. Unfortunately, AAMI refused to allow us to secure accommodation for more than three nights at a time, despite there still being so much work to undertake at the house, so we were constantly being forced to move. By the time we received approval to extend our stay, our unit or apartment had often already been taken. We moved nine times in the first 18 months alone. Eventually, we paid month by month to try and secure something more stable, as it was affecting our kids terribly, and we were juggling the costs across multiple credit cards and loans, whilst waiting and hoping for reimbursements. All the while we were still paying the mortgage for our home that sat there, empty and unliveable.

 

One of the more stressful times was when we could not secure the home we were staying in and had to find something else over the Easter period in 2017. As our town hosts a major international surfing tournament, accommodation options are scarce and expensive. I was desperately trying to find somewhere for my family to stay, but all the available homes cost five or six times what we had approval for and were being booked out fast. In an act of fairness, and in an attempt to keep costs low, I looked into hiring a caravan, and parking it on a friend's property. However, given my experiences to date, I didn't want to book it knowing I needed approval first, so I sent email after email to AAMI. Each one was more desperate as Easter got closer and options grew more scarce. I started trying to resolve this in February, and several weeks and many ignored emails later, I still had not heard back from AAMI. By then, the caravans had all booked out, and there were only two vacant homes available in the entire region. AAMI ended up approving one of these homes for us at the 11th hour, at a considerably higher cost than it would have cost them if they had simply responded to me when I was attempting to contact them months earlier. AAMI was replying to some of my other emails at this time, but, for whatever reason, they chose to ignore all my communications regarding our temporary emergency accommodation, creating so much unnecessary stress.

 

At various stages, it has been impossible not to wonder if AAMI have deliberately used time and delay as a tactic to add stress to our family and push us to breaking point so that we would give up and walk away.

 

 

 

AAMI continued to ignore the responsibility they had to fix our home and complete our claim.

After AAMI's failed remediation attempt, the process was outrageously long and certainly against their guidelines and service standards. Our emails were constantly never responded to, and our claims sat idle while we waited for answers and direction from AAMI regarding what they were going to do to fix the mess they had made. They provided some reimbursements, but sometimes it would take as long as ten months to come through without apologising or explaining. Other payments were denied or simply never responded to.

 

 

 

We requested AAMI undertake an internal review of our claims, a request they ignored for many months.

AAMI closed our claims in April 2017. They told us they would not be reimbursing us for any of the remaining outstanding expenses covered under our policy and would not fund any further temporary accommodation. I formally requested they review their decisions. This request, despite many follow-ups, was ignored by AAMI for nearly four months. I continued to request escalation of the matter. A new decisionmaker then got involved. AAMI apologised for the issues we had faced and appointed a new case manager to reinstate our accommodation funding and ensure our claim would be resolved to completion. It was a relief, but sadly one that was short-lived because despite what we told in late August 2017, AAMI never followed their recommendations and commitments to us. We were soon on the merry-go-round of chasing answers and begging for action again.

 

 

 

We were forced to request a second internal review due to AAMI's continued inaction, despite the initial review being decided in our favour. While AAMI were "reviewing" their decisions, no action was being taken to repair our home.

Unfortunately, the new case manager appointed to see our claims through to completion failed to act on any of their own report's finding and recommendations. Everything was still at a complete standstill.

 

After we received the review in our favour in August 2017, I outlined all our outstanding concerns, which we had been waiting for AAMI to address since I first escalated the matter in April 2017. I outlined the work done on the house and the work that remained and advised of the outstanding reimbursements. Despite constant follow up, AAMI failed to even provide a basic reply until December 2017.

 

Finally, the following year, in late April 2018, we finally received a response to our Internal Dispute Resolution, and this time the staff member responsible for reviewing our claim and complaint was the very same staff member who had done nothing to assist us over the previous months, and had closed our claim. Hardly an independent review! This person advised that AAMI would take no further action at our home. At this point, we had nowhere else to turn, so we had to engage a lawyer to help us.

 

Not only was this an incredibly stressful and unnecessarily drawn-out process, but worse of all, nothing was done on our house for all this time; it just sat there empty with no attempts at further mould remediation or to fix the chemical contamination AAMI had caused.

 

Continually chasing up answers, and continually being told that their own deadline for responding to us has been extended, was exhausting and frustrating. Imagine if a customer had a deadline for providing information to their insurer? Do you think the customer could just extend their own deadline, time and time again, over a period of 8 months? AAMI and Suncorp were clearly in breach of their own standards of service, and after failing us in terms of mould restoration, they continued to fail us with appalling customer service.

 

 

 

All the time this was going on, I was dangerously unwell.

Although I had allergies from a young age, I very carefully managed them. I was extremely cautious not to expose myself to any risk by avoiding salicylates in my food, drinks, product and medication use. I was healthy and very active with our young kids, business, and community with volunteer work. Until 2016 when everyone in the family began to suffer respiratory illnesses. My GP suggested we seek out a building biologist to check our home in case anything untoward was going on. Not long after this, we discovered the mould infestation and mould growing through the ceiling plaster and floorboards.

 

When AAMI's assessor first attended to investigate, he was shocked at some of the mould readings his equipment was picking up. When I asked him how bad it was, he asked, "do you have anywhere to go tonight?". I discussed this with AAMI, and they assured me it was safe for my family to remain in the home, and they would fast-track the remediation so it was safely dealt with as soon as possible. But, unfortunately, as we know, this did not happen.

 

After AAMI's failed remediation works, I was constantly suffering ill effects which were causing ongoing, repeated allergic reactions. I was so unwell from this exposure that in 2017 I caught a cold that my body just simply could not fight. One doctor at the hospital told me it was because my respiratory system was so weak from the salicylate exposure and multiple allergic reactions. My immune system was so weakened from constantly fighting that other malignant things can take hold when this happens. For me, it was a common cold that progressed to an ear infection, which then moved to the bone in my skull. Fortunately, they caught the infection as it was crossing from the bone to my brain. I was life-threateningly ill, and lost most of my hearing as a result, as well as dealing with other long-lasting health impacts, which still impact my day-to-day life today.

 

So as hard as it was to be dealing with all this insurance mess whilst I tried to recover, we just kept going, hoping that our claim and complaints would reach someone who could help us get everything resolved, so we could finally safely return home.

 

 

 

Despite our initial and ongoing requests that AAMI look at our home as a whole claim concerning our mould concerns, they insisted on making us open a new claim for each mould affected area as at $1,100 excess per claim.

Given the extent of water ingress and mould problems at the house, I repeatedly requested that AAMI consider the matters as one claim rather than make us put in separate claims for individual rooms or areas, as we had been doing initially. For example, I already had two claims for mould in two different areas in my kitchen.

 

I was advised other rooms could easily be affected by the known mould in existing areas, particularly because these areas were never correctly sealed off prior to, during, or after AAMI’s attempted remediation. I was also told that with water ingress it was not uncommon for multiple areas of a home to be affected by water running down and pooling in ceiling and wall cavities (as had been occurring in the other areas we were already aware of).

 

Yet despite this, for every new mould affected area found, AAMI asked us to open a new claim. I felt having 5+ separate claims were ridiculous. I had already been charged $4,400 in multiple excesses, and felt the constant requests for a new claim for every new area was a blatant money grab. We ended up with 4 claims in total. After that, I put my foot down and refused to open more claims, asking that AAMI again refer to my original requests starting in 2016 (and ongoing) that the whole house be viewed as one single claim so that any mould concerns would be addressed and not missed. All of the matters be treated at once.

 

We all know how easily mould spores can spread. The fact that AAMI failed to safely identify, isolate, seal, remove or treat any of the impacted mould-affected areas was a huge red flag of concern for the state and safety of the rest of the house.

 

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AAMI started mixing up our claim numbers, using the wrong number for the wrong claim, or placing all issues under one claim number, or referencing issues from one claim with issues from another claim.

Despite my request to have only one claim, we ended up having to open four claims for AAMI to start any work. And at the point we sought legal advice, they were still asking us to open more claims. Despite this being at their insistence, after a while, they began mixing up our claim numbers or addressing issues but only referring to one single claim number, despite us having many. I was always aware of this and unsure if it was just a tactic to confuse me or whether it was just another example of AAMI's ineptitude in terms of our case management. Despite repeated requests for an explanation, none was ever forthcoming. Despite repeated requests for AAMI to use the correct associated claim number if they were going to insist upon us having so many separate claims, this practice continued.

 

 

 

All that AAMI offered us to resolve the claim was a "deep house clean".

There has been no offer to replace our lost contents, the outstanding repairs and reimbursements, and if the “deep house clean” is not done properly, I’ve been told by my respiratory specialist that I could risk my life returning to the house. The offer by AAMI came with a small print disclaimer that they would not guarantee the clean would even work.

 

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We were told by someone working for AAMI to quickly patch up the home and quietly sell it before anyone found out what had happened, rather than continue to fight AAMI, as they would "destroy us emotionally and financially by dragging us through the courts for years".

To have this said to us by an AAMI expert is frightening. The person was involved in our claim and said this to my husband after I fell ill due to the failed mould remediation. That person obviously knew AAMI’s business model was to break honest customers rather than pay out on complete valid claims. They have certainly done this in our case, but we refused to be bullied, threatened or intimidated into offloading their mess onto another poor unsuspecting family. Firstly, we never considered this, as it is our home and we intended to return to it once AAMI "made good", as per their obligations. Secondly, we would never pass this burden onto another family. What if the buyer was recovering from or being treated for cancer, or was pregnant, or had a newborn? The issues in the house as they stand almost cost me my life, and it never ever crossed our mind to pass that risk onto someone else for our own financial reasons. We are still disgusted by the fact this was even suggested to us. And by the fact that AAMI's tactics are obviously so well known amongst the industry.

 

 

 

AAMI later, through their lawyers, admonished us for not attempting to "mitigate their losses" by selling or renting the home, or selling our contents – but we would never consider exposing another family to the dangers posed in its current state.

At the time this was raised, I explained that we didn't sell the house, as we fully expected AAMI (as our insurer who had accepted our claims) would repair the house to its pre-loss condition, as is their obligation, at which point we could move home. And we did not ever consider renting the house out during this time as repairs were incomplete, and it was simply not safe to do so. I also believe it would be illegal to try to rent out a house with mould issues. It is reprehensible that AAMI would even suggest these options to us.

 

We also expected that repairs would continue until the house was fixed and liveable – we did not ever expect the house to just sit there for so long unattended to by AAMI.

 

In terms of our contents, we have not tried to sell any, as they are mould affected and chemically contaminated, and we understand would pose a danger to potential new owners. We would also not consider selling contents which are the subject of an open claim and a pending legal court case.

 

We maintained power at the property to assist AAMI's assessors and tradespeople as we assumed they would need power to finalise the works, as we fully expected AAMI to continue with repairs (telephone and internet were cut off when we realised the repairs were taking longer than expected to resolve, as an attempt to reduce losses).

 

I have certainly tried to mitigate or lessen losses in other ways, as mentioned previously, and we have been entirely fair and more than reasonable this entire time.

 

 

 

We have subpoenaed our audio files from AAMI, but initially they have only provided less than half, presumably withholding the ones which support our claims.

As a standard part of the legal proceedings, AAMI were subpoenaed for all our communications on all claims. They initially provided only 8 audio files in total, and yet we knew (from memory and from email references) there certainly should have been many more.

 

So, I sought my raw phone call log data from Telstra for cross-checking, and to date I have uncovered 15 additional phone calls for which AAMI did not provide audio files for. When our lawyer brought this to AAMI’s attention, they recently supplied us with more audio files, but we are yet to receive audio files for all the calls I have records for.

 

As a number of these calls are on critical dates, I can only assume the audio records are to AAMI's detriment and support our claims. Are they purposely withholding them? If they have not willingly withheld them, then we will expect all audio files for all our claims to be supplied to our lawyer as soon as possible.

 

 

 

AAMI and Suncorp have provided different excuses every time they are questioned on why they have failed to reopen and complete our claims.

AAMI are contractually required to return our home to its pre-loss state. Prior to this, I was able to safely live in my own home. Now, due to AAMI's failed remediation treatment, and Suncorp's inaction to resolve these issues, I cannot.

 

Every time we question them on why they have walked away from completing repairs to our home, they have provided different and implausible excuses. Reasons for not completing repairs to our home have included:

 

• That the repairs we were managing were taking "an unreasonably long time", however, all the delays were caused by AAMI. They were the ones that took months to act on the mould, and then impacted my health due to their failed mould remediation, as well as being the ones who finally approved our repairs during Christmas week. Have you ever tried to book a trade for major repairs Christmas week? I got the first builder I could and considering the time of year, we were lucky to get them at all.

 

• That we did not have a valid claim to begin with, and AAMI simply accepted our claims and completed the repairs to date as an act of courtesy and goodwill. I don't even know what to say about this one! Are insurance agencies often in the business of commencing works for non-valid claims, out of the goodness of their hearts? Regardless, we did have a valid policy, and valid, accepted claims. It is all documented.

 

• That as I refused to continually open new claims for every newly affected area (we were asked to place a 5th new claim at this point, with an excess of $1,100 each), they would not continue with the home repairs.

 

• I was then told that there is no way I could be suffering allergic reactions to any of their mould remediation, as all they used was water and a damp cloth. It seems strange for a company specialising in mould removal and restoration to treat mould? Of course this wasn't true, and they finally admitted to using a chemical solution in my home, containing salicylates, which is exactly what I told them they could not use due to my allergies to salicylates.

 

• Then they advised that they are not responsible for my pre-existing allergies (despite being told not to use any treatment at all due to my allergies to salicylates, but then going ahead and using a salicylates-based chemical treatment anyway). 

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• It has been clear that AAMI staff and contractors I have dealt with have been dismissive and disbelieving of my allergies, inferring there is no medical evidence to suggest that I am really even allergic to salicylates, or that it is even possible I could have really reacted to their salicylate-based mould treatment. Unfortunately for AAMI, there is ample medical evidence and history to confirm this, and I find this offensive in the extreme. They admitted using a salicylate-based spray treatment in my home, after being very clearly and repeatedly told not to, catastrophically failing in their duty of care to me as a policyholder. To ignore a specialist respiratory physician’s recommendation that I not enter the house in its current state, given the risk of allergic reaction including anaphylaxis which carries “a significant risk of death”, is reckless in the extreme.

 

• At times AAMI have also insisted that the house is fine in terms of both mould levels and chemical contamination from their salicylates-based treatment, despite many reports and evidence to the contrary.

 

• Despite AAMI being well aware of my allergies, they went ahead and sprayed the chemicals I was allergic to anyway. My allergies are all very well documented. And although AAMI state all phone calls made to them are recorded, AAMI is yet to provide them despite issuing them with a subpoena for all of the call records. However, I can confirm that many calls occurred via my Telstra call log data. I’m still waiting for all of the audio logs to be provided. As well as phone calls, I also raised my allergy concerns with AAMI at meetings at my home, and all before the treatment took place.

 

• It has also been suggested to me that insurance companies can't just simply pay out all claims, because they have an obligation to their shareholders. Of course they do. But so too do they have an obligation to those same shareholders to act in a legal and ethical manner. Shareholders want to feel comfortable and confident that the companies they are investing their hard-earned dollars in are not causing another family's ruin. And doesn't this sense of obligation extend to customers and policyholders too?

 

I think they may have run out of excuses at this point.

 

 

 

AAMI and Suncorp's 2021 Profits.

Suncorp is a top 50 ASX-listed company with $96 billion in assets. Their insurance sector made $547 million profit in 2021, up 42.4% from the previous year. Suncorp Group CEO Steve Johnston commented on these returns by stating "During this time our focus has been on supporting our insurance and banking customers and executing our strategic priorities. While COVID-19 and the weather will continue to challenge our customers and our team, we know we have good momentum and a program of work that will further improve outcomes for our customers and shareholders".

 

With over $1,000 million in profit in 2021 alone, Australians will be disgusted at their treatment of us, and their astonishing failure to manage and complete repairs to our home.

 

 

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Our home's background.

We purchased our 'forever' home in 2011. It was then just over a decade old, having been architecturally designed in 1999 and built in 2000. The house was only 16 years old when the mould issues were discovered, after we had lived there for four years. We undertook a thorough pre-purchase inspection through a trusted and reputable company, which cleared the property as structurally sound and devoid of any issues prior to purchase, so we did our due diligence. We maintained the property immaculately, and had full insurance coverage, with our policy paid and up to date.

 

 

 

The good news.

There have been many amazing people who have tried to help us through this desperately challenging time. Our ever-supportive family, and great friends, who have kept us going when we wanted to give up. Sharing old family photos with us to replace ours, and donating household items and toys for our children. Local real estate and holiday let agents helped find us somewhere to stay when AAMI abandoned us, and our local Surf Club who donated bags of clothing for each of us, helping to get us through until we could begin to source replacement clothing. A roster of cooked meals for my family was arranged whilst I was in and out of hospital from our beautiful school community. And our local Jan Juc and Surfcoast community in general have always had our back.

 

 

 

Can you please help us?

AAMI state they are in the business of disaster recovery, but they caused the disaster in our case. Now they are refusing to fix it. We want to show AAMI the public's support for our situation and express our concern that this could happen to anyone with a valid policy during their accepted claims process.

 

AAMI left our young family in a toxic environment, then left us homeless (moving 9 times in the first 18 months alone before we were able to take out loans to fund our own temporary accommodation, placing us in significant debt), intimidated us, and threatened us with a long, drawn out and expensive court battle to fight for what is rightfully ours: our home. We have been living in limbo for nearly 6 years now. Enough is enough Suncorp and AAMI! This is a devastating failure of their duty of care to their customers, and we have suffered terribly due to their negligence.

 

Please help us resolve this situation which has shattered our family by signing this petition and voicing your concerns to AAMI and Suncorp.