Insurance claims flood in after torrential rains in north Queensland

The damage bill from heavy rainfall and flash flooding in northern Australia remains to be seen as insurers begin taking claims from affected residents.

Parts of north Queensland have been inundated by flooding after heavy rain lashed the region in the last week, resulting in the deaths of two people, the search for a third, and evacuation of hundreds of others.

Floodwaters are beginning to recede in some areas with residents now taking stock of the damage to their properties and homes.

The Australian Defence Force has been asked to help deliver a temporary bridge over Ollera Creek on the Bruce Highway to allow for the transport of food, supplies and support to flood-affected areas.

Insurance Australia Group had received 192 claims since January 26, while Suncorp registered 665 claims from customers, with almost 500 homes impacted until 8am on Wednesday, mostly in the Townsville suburbs of Garbutt, Kirwan and Burdell.

Suncorp expects more claims to come through from Ingham and Cardwell residents as they return to their homes in the coming days.

A customer support team is on the ground at Townsville stadium with mobile hubs available from Thursday.

With three reports of looting during the flood emergency, Queensland police have ramped up their patrols to help prevent further losses.

“I am disgusted by these reports of people in our community taking advantage of this weather event and the devastation it has caused across our region,” said Townsville Superintendent Chris Lawson.

“As we move into the recovery phase, police will continue to target offenders and hold them responsible for their actions.”

Northern Australia residents pay the highest insurance premiums in the nation across home, strata and small business. Premiums increased by seven per cent in 2022-2023 to $2918, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

In 2021, storm-affected premiums in north Queensland were three times the price of the rest of Australia.

Insurers have blamed the increasing size of payouts for the higher premiums in flood prone communities.

About $17 billion has been paid in claims from 13 disasters since the Black Summer bushfires in 2019 and 2020, the Insurance Council of Australia said.

Flooding in 2022 resulted in nearly 30,000 claims over losses which cost the industry almost $6 billion, the biggest single payout in Australian history.

Insurers paid out $2.2 billion in extreme weather claims in 2023/24, according to Insurance Council data released in August.

Flooding is the nation’s most expensive weather emergency, with about 1.2 million properties facing varying levels of flood risk. There were 10.8 million dwellings across Australia as of 2021, according to the census that year.

AAP