<
https://theconversation.com/after-the-floods-comes-underinsurance-we-need-a-better-plan-178143>
"The floods affecting Australia’s eastern seaboard are a “1 in 1,000-year
event”, according to New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet. But that’s not
what science, or the insurance industry, suggests.
Throughout Australia in areas prone to fires, cyclones and floods, home owners
and businesses are facing escalating insurance costs as the frequency and
severity of extreme weather events increase with the warming climate.
Premiums have risen sharply over the past decade as insurers count the cost of
insurance claims and factor in future risks. The latest report from the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published this week, predicts global
warming of 1.5℃ will lead to a fourfold increase in natural disasters.
Rising insurance premiums are creating a crisis of underinsurance in Australia.
In 2017 the federal government tasked the Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission to investigate insurance affordability in northern Australia, where
destructive storms and floods are most common. The commission delivered its
final report in 2020. It found the average cost of home and contents insurance
in northern Australia was almost double the rest of Australia – $2,500 compared
with $1,400. The rate of non-insurance was almost double – 20% compared with
11%.
While the areas now experiencing their worst flooding in recorded history
aren’t part of the riskiest areas identified by the insurance inquiry, the
dynamics are the same.
Those not insured or underinsured will be financially devastated. Insurance
premiums will rise. As a result, more people will underinsure or drop their
insurance completely, compounding the social disaster that will come with the
next natural disaster.
So, what [to] do about it?"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
