Insurance delays as Exmouth residents struggle with living conditions

Exmouth locals are struggling to have their insurance claims processed following Cyclone Narelle.

Some residents are still unable to return to their homes five months on from cyclone.

Complaints have been submitted to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority in an effort to get the insurance claims sped up.

Darryl Byatt and his family have been living in a shed for the last five months after Cyclone Narelle significantly damaged their home in March.

The Exmouth resident said he was fortunate that before the cyclone hit the town, 1,250 kilometres north of Perth, he renovated the shed so it was liveable for the short term.

"The house was unliveable, the roof came off, the verandah came off and there was extensive damages to plasterboards and flooring," Mr Byatt said.

"We had concerns the insurance might take a little bit of time to process, we just did not expect five months," he said.

Cyclone Narelle was a category four system when it passed the coast of Exmouth , damaging homes, business, roads and the airport.

Mr Byatt said an assessment was done of his property by builders sent by his insurance company.

However, when Mr Byatt received the settlement quote he found a lot of the damage was missing from the report.

He said he questioned the insurer about why items were left out but could not get a definitive response.

"We declined to sign that thinking maybe we can get somewhere quickly and it's now been referred to Australian Financial Complaints Authority," he said.

"I have spoken to a few people, there is different people with different insurance companies experiencing the same frustration," he said.

Some of the offered settlements seemed much below the actual repair costs while some cases failed to receive much response.