Households rebuilding their lives after floods remain stressed about further natural disasters, shortfalls in recovery funding and rising insurance costs.
Federal independent MP Andrew Gee is from the central west of New South Wales (NSW), which was severely impacted by floods in 2022.
Taking part in a parliamentary hearing, he called for more preventative measures to limit the risk of repeat flooding events.
“The floods are just going to happen again because that legwork is not being done,” Mr. Gee said.
“It doesn’t seem that hard to actually work out where the water came from and get it fixed, but it’s not happening.”
The committee is investigating insurers’ response to major floods.
The National Emergency Management Agency appeared before the inquiry on March 15.
Climate change was a major factor behind increasingly frequent natural disasters that were driving up insurance costs, the agency said.
It also raised concerns people were dipping into their savings or relying on government and charity funding as insurance coverage became more expensive.
“The sheer number and extent of flood events in 2022 illustrates ... without insurance, people face longer recovery times and need to rely on their own savings or funding from governments or charities,” it said.
A lack of communication between insurers and policyholders was creating additional stress.
“Some customers had a bit of confusion around whether or not they should clean their houses out—whether they should sort through their belongs and put furniture on the strip as quickly as possible,” an agency representative said.
Global re-insurance giant Swiss Re blamed increasing premiums on a lack of risk reduction and planning laws that allowed building on flood plains.
Swiss Re executive Trent Thomson suggested improving building standards and land use.
“Having controls in place around those two areas sets us up for a more resilient Australia in the longer term,” he said.
Mr. Thomson suggested insured households could be back on their feet within six to 12 months, which drew a reaction from Labor MP Susan Templeman.
The committee chair—who lives in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney—said six months was “a bit of a fantasy” even with full insurance.
“Anyone in my community listening will probably be stroppy with me if I don’t say that,” she said.
“I‘d hate for you to think that it was ’great, quick fix turn around and get it all done' when it is a much more traumatic journey.”
The cost of home and contents insurance had become unaffordable for one in eight households, Swiss Re told the committee.
That’s up from one in 10 households in 2022.
“Risk reduction is the only way to lower the risk and therefore improve affordability,” the insurer said.
The risk of large losses needed to be reduced for reinsurance to remain sustainable, Swiss Re said.
