Preventing towns from becoming uninsurable

NATURAL disasters have contributed to skyrocketing insurance premiums for some people on the Northern Rivers. Others have found their properties are uninsurable.

It is an issue being addressed by the federal inquiry into insurers’ responses to the 2022 major flood claims, and the region’s leaders are providing feedback.

A federal inquiry into insurers’ responses to the 2022 major flood claims is addressing skyrocketing insurance premiums and uninsurable properties in the Northern Rivers.

Local leaders, including Lismore MP Janelle Saffin, are actively providing feedback to find solutions.

Ms Saffin, who is NSW Parliamentary Secretary for Disaster Recovery, previously called for the inquiry, gave evidence to its public hearing in Lismore, and hosted two roundtables on insurance reform, also held in Lismore.

She wrote to House of Representatives Committee on Economics chair Dr Daniel Mulino, explaining that the forum’s submission was originally commissioned as an insurance status review by the then Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation.

Its authors, academics from the University of Queensland’s Business School – Professor Paula Jarzabkowski, Dr Katie Meissner and Dr Matthew Mason made a case study of Lismore that Ms Saffin said can be extrapolated across the Northern Rivers region, New South Wales, and other places in Australia.

“With insurance, it appears that the global community is facing similar issues to us with insurance affordability. Whatever is done, the government needs to be very involved in the response, and we must require mitigation and adaptation to be in the mix,” Ms Saffin said.

She noted the submission found no single, pre-existing solution for the complex problem of uninsurability in Lismore.

It makes four recommendations about the potential of a new insurance ecosystem for Lismore.

A national risk pool is a tested solution that, when well-designed, could support affordable insurance in Lismore for residents and small businesses providing it is accompanied by a medium and long-term program of risk reduction, including relocation.

Small parametric products, which can be spent flexibly by policyholders, have the potential to provide economic benefit to Lismore business owners, supporting them with rapid response to business interruptions, particularly from small-scale events.

Parts of Lismore fall within the uninsurable zone and could be considered for insurance innovations to support planned migration and provide insurance cover during any transitionary period.

Lismore residents and business owners will benefit from a sustained program of embedding risk management capabilities throughout the community to support them in reducing their risk and increasing their financial ability to respond to hazards.

Dr Mulino’s Committee’s report on its inquiry is due by October 18.