February marks the anniversary of the 2019 Townsville Floods and Legal Aid Queensland is encouraging anyone with new or ongoing legal issues they need help with to contact the organisation.
Last year Legal Aid Queensland and Townsville Community Law collaborated during the clean up to provide free legal advice to all residents affected by the floods.
Legal Aid Queensland consumer advocate and senior lawyer Paul Holmes said free legal help is still available to anyone with lingering problems with insurance, insurance claims or brokers, banks, financial providers or lenders, consumer lease providers, or any other legal problems as a result of the floods.
“Sometimes issues you might have with your bank or insurance may seem to be only minor problems initially, but can snowball later on,” Mr Holmes said.
“For example, at this stage, there might be people who are unhappy with cash settlements which may not have covered the actual repairs or replacement costs of damaged property.
“After all this time, people may now be arguing with their builders about how their home is being rebuilt, or, while it’s unlikely, there may still be people who haven’t yet lodged an insurance claim.
“There may also be people who lenders have given a financial hardship arrangement to, but because they’re still not back on track, they may need to apply for further financial hardship.
“Our advice for anyone who has outstanding legal problems from the floods is free and available to all,” Mr Holmes said.
Anyone still needing legal help for problems caused by the 2019 Townsville floods can access Legal Aid Queensland’s free legal advice through the Flood and Cyclone Legal Help number on 1300 004 924.
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Media contact
Amanda Catania or Caroline Page (07) 3917 0407 or (07) 3917 0457
Last updated 12 February 2020