The countries big insurers have found themselves in a political storm as the cost of policies balloons $30 billion over a decade. But are those hikes unfair?
While tropical cyclones moving south make insurance executives nervous, more extreme weather events are not the only challenge the insurance sector faces. Bethany Rae
As Tropical Cyclone Alfred hovered ominously off the Queensland coast during the first week of March, Suncorp chief executive Steve Johnston was thinking: could this be the big one?
At the insurer’s disaster management centre on level 24 of the Heritage Lanes building in Brisbane’s CBD, his team knew this was no ordinary storm. Since emerging in the Coral Sea, Alfred was moving away from the tropics; Johnston was watching it head towards the 4 million people living in south-east Queensland.
James EyersSenior ReporterJames Eyers writes on banking, payments and fintech. He is a former legal and investment banking editor at the AFR, has degrees in commerce and law from UNSW, and is co-author of Buy now, pay later: The extraordinary story of Afterpay Connect with James on Twitter. Email James at jeyers@afr.com.au
