As the recent floods leave many Australians in financial trouble, Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has insisted that customers should be informed upfront if their properties are at risk of flooding before they buy.
IAG had received around 8,000 claims as of 4pm on March 25, a figure that is expected to rise further. The claims were predominantly for property damage.
Mark Leplastrier, the executive of natural perils at IAG, said governments, banks, and other institutions must be more direct about associated disaster risks before residents buy or rent properties.
He added that construction or homeownership protocols were “out of step” and relied on the insurer to tell customers about potential natural hazard risks after a building had been built or a property bought.
“It seems a bit crazy to me,” Leplastrier said, as reported by news.com.au. “You would think it would be part of purchasing a house or renting a property. You would think you should be well informed what you are taking on.”
IAG is calling for better coordination to identify underlying risks at a property. It also advised planners to factor in extreme weather events.
“Landplaning and building codes need to focus on (structural) resilience and not just life safety,” Leplastrier said. “Insurers need to start working with building industry groups to start to do something about resilience.”
Meanwhile, Suncorp Group is urging state governments to classify insurance workers and tradespeople as essential workers.
“This will give tradespeople confidence to cross borders to support affected communities. We are committed to getting our customers back on their feet as soon as possible, so it is important that we can get assessors and repairers on the ground to affected regions quickly, given the magnitude of this event,” said Suncorp Group chief executive officer Steve Johnston.
