OPINION: Check your insurance before it's too late

AS you cast a weather eye to the heavens may you also take stock of your insurance policies and what they do and don’t cover.

AS you cast a weather eye to the heavens may you also take stock of your insurance policies and what they do and don't cover.

We've had some pretty big (but isolated) storms rolling through the region in the past couple of weeks and they all have the potential to be damaging.

Brisbane's billion dollar deluge recently is evidence of that.

The Northern Star has been following a hike in flood insurance premiums across the Northern Rivers.

Today that issue takes front and centre prominence on the front page and a package inside.

It pays to check the fine print before you sign up for insurance.

You may be surprised about what it DOESN'T cover you for.

I've found this out several times when I have gone to claim insurance.

After a particularly damaging hail storm, where my perfectly functioning roof and gutters were completely inundated, I was told by an insurance company that they wouldn't be paying me a cent because my roof was in such a bad state of disrepair.

After appealing for second assessment to be done, I got a partial payment, but the company had to be dragged kicking and screaming to that compromise.

With one leading law firm suggesting flood insurance premiums could rise by up to 800%, it's time we all became a bit more active on this issue.

Skyrocketing insurance premiums are pricing many people out of the market and leaving lower income and pensioners in a particularly vulnerable state.