Claims for flood damage in Queensland and NSW have hit 48,000, but that is expected to climb with estimates that the bill could be into the billions of dollars.

Suncorp chief executive Steve Johnston has sheeted home some of the blame for the likely huge damage bill from southeast Queensland latest flood event to the inadequacy of laws covering where people could build houses and businesses.

He said planning laws had put people into the middle of the disaster, revealing claims to the company had already reached 13,000 which he said was an extraordinary number.

He said there would be homes that had been repaired three or four times and there was an urgent need to develop resilience against disasters by rebuilding homes to better cope with major events.

“In the last 50 years we (Australia) have put people in the face of these disasters because of planning laws,” he said.

“That’s not a criticism of this government or any government in recent times – it’s happened over almost a hundred years – so we’ve got to address that.”

He said it was inevitable that Suncorp and other insurers would be managing repairs to buildings that had already been repaired three or four times due to flooding.

“We need to take account of the water and where it went and work with customers to build homes that are more resilient.”

The Insurance Council of Australia said the overall claim numbers doubled in the space of day.

It said the cost of claims was too early to estimate, but Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the overall damage bill was in the billions.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles urged insurers to act quickly, but also warned that it could be days before electricity was restored to some areas.

“I met with lots of people yesterday who had lost everything and were unable to get insurance after 2011 and it’s heartbreaking to hear these stories,” he said.

Johnston said the damage costs for Suncorp could be bigger than the $750 million it spent in 2011, but it was too early to assess because it was still unfolding.

But he said the company was already dealing with 50,000 claims from disasters earlier in the summer. Suncorp has assessed its cost for natural hazards this year to be well over $1 billion.

Because if reinsurance, this event would cost Suncorp $75 million but he said that was a fraction of the total cost of claims.

“It’s possible, it could be bigger in total dollar value (than 2011) because it’s over a larger geography,” Johnston said.

“We still have to get a good assessment of what’s happening in northern NSW.”

He said anyone who had Suncorp home insurance automatically had flood cover and changes made after 2011 meant that flood cover included water released from dams.

Johnston urged people to take photographs of damages, including items that were being thrown out, so assessments could be done accurately and quickly.

He said Suncorp had a panel of builders who had been “stood up” to work on repairs and more builders were being brought in from around Australia.

The Insurance Council said companies were closely monitoring the availability of temporary accommodation for displaced residents.