Australia has been facing more frequent and severe weather events, resulting in skyrocketing premiums, and leaving some parts of regional Australia “uninsurable”.
Jane Brookman, who owns a farm cottage in the northern rivers region of New South Wales (NSW), shared with The Guardian Australia (The Guardian) that she has not been impacted directly by floods or bushfires. However, with Inverell near her residence and Lismore being four hours away, her area was deemed high risk, resulting in insurance premiums nearly tripling in the past three years.
“The insurers tell me that I have to insure it for over $500,000, when it’s definitely not going cost that to replace it,” Brookman said, noting that her monthly insurance payments have increased from $120 to $313. “My house has never been damaged. We’ve never made a claim.”
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) said higher premiums resulted from the insurance industry’s readjustment to more frequent extreme weather.
“Each insurer has their own underwriting [insuring] criteria and will use these criteria to determine the risks underlying individual policies and policy categories,” an ICA spokesperson said, as reported by The Guardian.
Earlier this month, the ICA and insurers welcomed the 2023-2024 budget for disaster resilience.
“With households grappling with cost-of-living pressures, reducing the physical risks to homes and communities is critical for taking pressure off insurance costs,” said ICA CEO Andrew Hall.
“We know that communities across the east coast are still recovering from the floods in 2022, which were the costliest in history, so it is welcoming to see the government continue its commitment to fund disaster resilience and measures to protect Australian communities from extreme weather.”
