According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, flooding has hit parts of eastern Australia, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate their homes. The heavy precipitation over the past week is associated with ex-tropical cyclone Oswald and was enhanced by a monsoon trough, an elongated area of low pressure that moved south along the Queensland coast into New South Wales. Floodwaters cut off rural communities, damaged homes, caused massive power outages, and disrupted coal mining operations. Water levels are slowly receding on most rivers, but dozens of flood warnings still remain…
Read MoreTag: Queensland floods
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…
Read MoreQueensland flood insurance investigation reveals that nature wasn’t the only culprit
According to experts that were hired by insurance companies to do a further check into the damages that occured during the Queensland floods, found that the Wivenhoe Dam was a contributing factor. The owner of NRMA and CGU, Insurance Australia Group reported in detail how the water that was released from Wivenhoe including the heavy and continuous rainfall contributed to the flooding of the homes and businesses in the said Australia state. However, it was not reported how much of the damage can be blamed on Wivenhoe during the flood that…
Read MoreAustralia looking at insurance premium increases
Many predict insurance rates to increase in upcoming years for Australians due to a relentless wave of natural disasters thrashing the countryside. How much of an increase is hard to say, analysts and insurance companies are calculating the total financial loss from the Queensland flood and Cyclone Yasi, and will adjust accordingly. Wild figures being thrown out of 30% rate increases have been talked down by Patrick Snowball, chief executive of the Suncorp Insurance Group, the largest insurer of Australia. Stating it’s still too early to tell but insurance companies…
Read MorePoliticians demand for flood peril to be defined by insurance companies
Insurers in Australia have been confronted with their share of controversy since the floods in Queensland and are now hard pressed to come up with answers. The Minister of Employment and Economic Development, Andrew Fraser, states there is no obvious difference in damages caused by storm, flash flooding or riverine flooding, and that the clean-up after such damages is indistinguishable. He takes issue with the fact that many insurance policies can draft clear definitions regarding the damage. The issue lies in many insurers refusing, or being unable, to pay for…
Read More