Life after losing everything.

Here at Real Insurance, we strive to settle on insurance claims as quickly as possible. Claims from the recent Victorian bushfires were all handled promptly and have now all been finalized. But long after the job of the insurers has finished, people still struggle to return to the normalcy of their lives before fire takes away everything they own.

This was the issue discussed on the ABC 702 Drive program recently. Host Jennifer Byrne spoke with Petrea King from the Quest for Life Foundation about life after you lose everything. One of the most poignant stories was about Petrea’s own brother, who lost his home and all his possessions to fire. Petrea told how the insurance company rebuilt the family home, and all of the family’s possessions, but it still wasn’t the same. The floorboards that the family knew would always squeaked when they walked over them were new now and didn’t make a sound. The ‘rainy day’ trackies with the familiar hole in them were replaced with brand new clothes that just weren’t the same. And that favourite book with the characteristic rip on the front page was destroyed forever.

As insurers we can replace bricks and mortar, we can fill drawers with clothes and cupboards with plates and cups. If only we could replace memories, or those feelings which bring families together and make them feel at home.