Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg warns floods will make insurance unaffordable for even more homes

The mayor of Lismore, which was devastated by flooding three years ago, has warned the current disaster could make it even harder for people across NSW to insure their homes.

The mayor of one of NSW’s most flood-prone towns has warned the current disaster could make it even harder for people across the state to insure their homes, and get much-needed financial help.

Insurers have already received more than 1600 claims from the Mid North Coast and Hunter, and expect those numbers to jump as people begin to return to their properties.

Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg, whose town was devastated by flooding three years ago, said those claims have “real implications for the state and the nation in terms of ongoing insurance premiums”.

“I can only imagine what those poor residents and business owners are going to have to deal with, when they think they had cover, and it’s not enough,” he said.

Mr Krieg said many people in Lismore could “no longer afford” to insure their homes after the devastating 2022 floods, and feared that would be the case for people on the Mid North Coast and Hunter, whose homes and businesses had been affected by the current flooding.

Corey Saunders, with kids Tahlia and Brianna, at their Taree home he cannot afford to insure. Picture: Thomas Lisson

He said insurers needed to look at how Lismore had rebuilt to be more resilient to flooding and lower their premiums.

“It’s not just a story about the Northern Rivers, it’s the Central West, and now the Mid North Coast – a much bigger region,” he said.

Taree local Elise Gucul helps clean the mess left behind from the floods. Picture Thomas Lisson

“So does the Hawkesbury and Nepean all become uninsurable? The whole Mid North Coast?

“The whole state could become uninsurable.”

Mr Krieg said while insurers did pay out on many existing claims during the 2022 floods, in the years since it had become more difficult to get coverage.

“The insurance industry in my opinion is designed for people to fail,” he said.

A home submerged during the floods.

Taree resident Corey Saunders said he would “love” to have insurance to protect his large blended family’s belongings, but it was too expensive.

“We lost a lot of stuff in our house, the price of insurance for floods (is too expensive),” he said.

“You’d love to get it, but you could go five, six years without floods and you’re paying a high premium and then you might get the benefit from it in that time or could just go on and it not flood another 10 years.”

Mr Saunders said that if he could afford the insurance, he’d have a different house altogether, or even raise it to “at least the street sign”.

Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg. Picture: Glenn Campbell

NSW Premier Chris Minns did not rule out introducing the home buyback scheme that had seen the NSW government buy uninsurable homes on the flood plains in the Northern Rivers. But Mr Minns said he would have to see the damage with his own eyes.

“I can’t rule anything out. The recovery effort can really only be guided once the flood waters begin to recede and we can get a full measure of the damage in the community,” he said.

“Once the storm moves on, you have got houses that are devastated, communities that have been overrun and the damage just takes a long time to clear.

“I need to see it with my own eyes.”

Insurance Council of Australia chief executive Andrew Hall said insurers had already received 1600 claims and there were staff already in the affected areas to respond to the “significant event”.

“We expect to see more claims come through over the weekend as people return to their homes or water damage becomes obvious,” he said.

“We know that for some this is the second or third flood event in the last few years.”

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Originally published as Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg warns floods will make insurance unaffordable for even more homes