Insurance cripples northern Australians as they wait on promised Government action to stem rises

Unit owners in northern Australia are begging for promised Federal Government intervention to drive down soaring insurance premiums, with some unable to afford their bills. Key points: Northern Australians are facing increasing premiums compared with other parts of the country A Mackay couple joins those unable to afford their insurance, which tripled on last year's figure The Federal Government is yet to detail its availability and affordability plan "It's extortionist behaviour," Erna-Jean Pozzetti said. Since July 2017, the ACCC found: the risk of natural disasters, larger reinsurance costs, and subdued competition in northern Australia contributed to higher and increasing premiums compared with other parts of the country; strata insurance is mandatory, and the ratio of premiums to sum insured can be up to four times higher than the rest of Australia; and insurers managed their risk exposure by increasing premiums, refusing to cover some properties, and exiting the market — particularly for strata where claims were on average three times larger than those made in the rest of Australia. Government yet to detail action In November 2019, Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar said he would "make some decisions" ahead of the release of the ACCC's final report, due to the Treasury at the end of next month. "The chronic underspending by all levels of governments on mitigation and resilience programs is leaving many communities exposed," Insurance Council of Australia spokesman Campbell Fuller said.