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…
Read MoreTag: Australian flood disaster
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 –…
Read MoreAustralia: 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 MoreSo 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…
Read MoreForced 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…
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