Queensland residents prepare for major insurance rate hikes nearly one year after catastrophic floods

The Australian government has announced that meeting its own recommendations for disaster insurance in the wake of the floods in Queensland early last year. The floods that hit the region last year cost thousands of people their homes and put an end to several businesses. There are still scores of people struggling to rebuild, nearly a year after the catastrophe. When flood waters came in, the nation’s insurers were quickly overwhelmed in terms of claims and insured losses. The government had to step in, but it too struggled to mitigate…

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Suncorp reveals how much they paid on Australia and New Zealand disasters this year

Earlier this year, Australia and New Zealand faced an onslaught of natural disasters that put strain on the two nation’s top insurer: Suncorp. Several estimates have been made as to how much the disasters cost the company, but Suncorp had not released any official statement regarding the issue. Yesterday, however, their silence was broken as the company hopes to improve its relationship with several reinsurance company in an effort to increase its profits for the 2011-12 fiscal year. According to Suncorp, the two devastating earthquakes that rocked New Zealand –…

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Australia: Property insurance risk are being recalculated

The flooding that struck Australia’s Queensland some months back was expected to have severe ramifications on the insurance industry. Now, officials are reporting that rates for homeowners are going to be raised by as much as 30%. Queensland residents have been receiving renewal notices for their policies’ premiums will be increasing. Many of these policyholders own property that survived the flooding without any damage, leading them to question the rate increase. Insurers claim a myriad of reasons behind the rate increase. While the flooding is a prominent factor, they assert…

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So you think insurance is wasted money, think again!

While insurance may seem to be a burden to most people, it does have moments of significance that is usually only noticed when certain situations arise. Five important insurance claims are explored, including car problems, fine arts, pet insurance, natural disasters and the 9/11 financial burden. Auto insurance holds a huge significance that should not be taken for granted. Back in 2007 in the UK, a car shopper took out a Pagani Zonda for a test drive which is worth £500,000, with only ten of the cars produced in a…

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Forced place insurance for businesses in Austrailia

In light of the recent disasters befalling the nation, the Australian government may be setting up an inquiry to determine whether states should be forced to purchase commercial insurance policies to cover natural disasters. Legislators are currently pushing to pass a $1.8 billion deal that would help reconstruct levees. The possibility of an inquiry was raised when Treasurer Wayne Swan suggested that there “legitimate questions” about what states had done regarding insurance. Swan said that “it is probably timely for us to evaluate all of those questions, to have a…

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