Northern Australians ditch insurance as premiums soar in disaster-prone regions

Skyrocketing premiums are driving homeowners across disaster-prone Northern Australia to ditch their home insurance, the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission says. Key points: Residents of northern Australia are choosing not to insure their properties as premiums get more expensive Northern Australia has been hit by several natural disasters in recent years The ACCC has previously recommended abolishing stamp duty and investigating a national home-insurance comparison website The second interim report from the Northern Australia Insurance Inquiry estimated the average rate of non-insurance in northern parts of the country was 20 per cent, almost double the rate elsewhere in the nation. February flood findings The ACCC said about 90 per cent of Townsville respondents affected by the February floods reported that they had some insurance at the time. "Forty-four per cent of affected businesses they found it very or extremely difficult to recover financially from their loss, regardless of whether they held insurance or not," the ACCC said. "We are acting now and engaging with the insurance industry to develop options that will have a real impact on consumers in northern Australia," Mr Sukkar said.