Suburban Rail Loop Authority (SRLA) is committed to minimising the impact of works to surrounding properties communities.

Although the detailed assessment undertaken for the project’s Environment Effects Statement (EES) found the likelihood of works causing property damage or personal injury to be low, SRLA takes the risk of injury or damage as a result of construction very seriously.

A number of measures have been taken to manage these risks including:

• offering pre-construction and post-construction condition surveys of potentially affected properties on a proactive basis
• adoption of construction standards and guidelines that represent best practice
• stringent contractual requirements on contractors to prevent damage to properties
• an over-arching requirement under the Project’s Environmental Management Framework to undertake any required repair works or other actions as agreed with the landowner for properties affected by ground movement
• a comprehensive insurance program in respect of damage caused to third party properties as well as personal injury to members of the public from property damage to be implemented via the State’s captive insurer, the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA).

In addition, SRLA has established procedures to ensure that, in the unlikely event that property damage and/or personal injury to a member of public arises, claims are dealt with in a way that is fair, efficient, timely and transparent for all parties.

These procedures have been developed in conjunction with VMIA and contractors and are set out below.

Submitting a claim

You may submit a claim relating to property damage and/or personal injury caused by the Suburban Rail Loop East works by:

• Submitting an injury or damage claim online
• To ensure that your claim is recorded and progressed promptly, SRLA recommends that you complete our online claim form so that SRLA may refer your claim to the relevant contractor and/or VMIA to progress.

Please forward any costs you may have incurred from the injury and/or damage.

Urgent claims

Where your claim relates to an immediate hazard to your property caused by the SRL East works, the relevant contractor will take immediate action to assess the situation and the need to undertake any urgent work to make your property safe.

We recommend you phone the SRLA Project Information Line on 1800 105 105 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) if you believe there is an immediate hazard.

Investigating your property damage claim

Following receipt of your claim, you will be contacted within 5 business days to acknowledge receipt of your claim.
An appointment at a mutually convenient time to inspect your property and assess whether damage has been caused by SRL East works may then be required.

The assessment of damage may involve an inspection by a loss assessor and other experts with experience in construction matters such as builders, surveyors, etc. This may require more than one inspection of your property.

The assessment will consider any property condition survey previously carried out and any future surveys will be undertaken at no cost to you.

Resolving your claim

You will be advised of the length of time required to assess your claim. Please note, complex claims may take longer to resolve.

To the extent reasonably possible, your claim will be resolved in accordance with the following timeframes:

• for personal injury, within 20 Business Days
• for lower value property damage, within 20 Business Days
• for significant property damage, within 30 Business Days.

You will receive periodic updates where your claim takes longer to be resolved.

Following an inspection of your property, you will be advised of the outcome of your claim.

Where it is agreed that your property has been damaged as a result of SRL East works, your claim will be resolved by financial compensation or having the agreed repair works carried out.

Where your claim is not able to be resolved by agreement, you may choose to pursue your claim further.

Management of claims

Your claim will be managed by the relevant SRL East works contractor or Victoria Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA), depending on its value.
These parties shall ensure that your claim is managed in a fair, efficient and reasonable manner having regard to the complexity of the issues raised.

Note: where the relevant contractor or VMIA forms a view that your claim does not warrant investigation, they will notify you of their reasons for declining to investigate your claim.

If you are unsatisfied with how your claim has been managed, you may lodge a complaint with SRLA. SRLA will review your complaint and liaise with VMIA or the contractor (as applicable) regarding your concerns.