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More and more Australians are not renewing their insurance policies as premiums rise due to the high frequency and severity of natural disasters. This was stated by its head ICA, of the Union Insurance Australia.
Home insurance affordability is an issue for more than a million households, Andrew Hall pointed out in a speech in Canberra.
As increasing numbers of people cancel or reduce their insurance, a “protection gap” appears, he said Hall. «Pimost people hope that luck will favor them favor». Australia, the world’s driest inhabited continent, was hit by wildfires in the summer of 2019-20, and the country’s densely populated east coast was repeatedly inundated by heavy rains and floods in 2022.
Emergency services are bracing for a severe bushfire season in 2023 after months of heavy rainfall caused by the La Nina weather system gave way to dry conditions created by El Nino as Australia heads into summer.
Amid natural disasters, many of which have been linked to the worsening effects of climate change, insurance premiums have skyrocketed. Average home insurance premiums rose 28% to $US1,894 ($1,240) in the year to March 31, according to a report by the Institute of Actuaries. In the highest risk properties – in areas prone to floods or fires the increase in premiums reached as much as 50%.
THE Hall he said governments across Australia needed to spend more on disaster prevention rather than just mitigation.