$11k-plus: The ‘outrageous’ cost to insure a Qld home revealed
Weather events are pushing home insurance premiums beyond affordability for Queenslanders, reaching more than $11,000 a year.
A snapshot of insurance premiums across Queensland shows that some residents are paying upwards of $11,000 a year for home and contents cover — a cost many are foregoing due to cost of living pressures.
And Brisbane residents are being slugged the most, with a record-high premium that is well above the national average of $2790.
Analysis by Finder found that homeowners in the Brisbane LGA were paying the highest insurance across the major capital cities, with the average premium across randomised addresses coming in at an eye-watering $11,881.
One provider quoted a staggering $14,905.
“It’s a cruel twist: the more people flock to Queensland for a laid-back lifestyle, the more they’re getting walloped by disaster-prone premiums,” Finder insurance expert Peta Taylor said, adding that Brisbane led the nation with record-high premiums that were six times more than many Melbourne suburbs.
The shocking figure comes as southeast Queensland continues to clean up after ex-Cyclone Alfred crossed the Moreton Bay coast early last month, and the state’s outback grapples with ongoing and widespread floods.
The second highest premiums are being paid by residents in the Mackay-Whitsunday region, where the average premium across three providers is $9957 a year.
It is closely followed by the flood-prone Lockyer Valley, where the average home and contents policy was $9285 at the time of the analysis.
Rounding out the top five most expensive regions for insurance premiums was Townsville ($8958) and Bundaberg ($5490).
Also paying north of $5000 was the Somerset LGA ($5458), Noosa ($5332) and Redland ($5022)
Surprisingly, insurance in the Sunshine Coast LGA came in at $3417, nearly $2000 less than Noosa’s $5332.
Meanwhile in other parts of southeast Queensland, annual premiums were under $2500 – Scenic Rim ($2452), Gold Coast ($2170), Moreton Bay ($1892), Logan ($1710) and
Ipswich ($4148)
Elsewhere in the state. residents were paying, on average, $3459 in Cairns, $2820 in Rockhampton, $3338 in Gladstone and $3520 on the Fraser Coast.
“Even lifestyle hubs like the Sunshine Coast and Noosa are feeling the heat,” Ms Taylor said.
“Moreton Bay and Toowoomba offer some relief — but prices are rising fast.”
It prompted the comparison website to warn that Queenslanders were increasingly being forced to choose between the mortgage and their insurance bill.
The average home insurance premium across Australia now sits at $2790, up from around $2000 last year, and $1700 in 2023.
Finder revealed that three per cent of Aussies, or about 370,000 people, have either downgraded or ditched their insurance entirely due to cost pressures.
Ms Taylor said that when premiums hit five figures, it was no longer about a safety net.
“We’re talking about it as a luxury product, and that’s a problem,” she said.
“After big disasters like Alfred, premiums can definitely rise in affected areas, especially if lots of claims are lodged.
“But the flow-on effect can be hard to predict — it might hit some LGAs hard, while others are spared.”
Up north, residents struggled to get any insurance in the wake of severe Cyclone Yasi in 2011 as insurers pulled out of regions north of Rockhampton or drastically hiked up premiums.
The exodus prompted the formation of the $10 billion Cyclone Reinsurance Pool, a scheme set up by the federal government that commenced operations in 2022.
The cyclone pool covers household, strata, and small business property insurance policies.
New reforms for strata properties, including discounts on premiums for those who undertake risk mitigation activities like roof upgrades, window protection and compliant external doors, came into effect on Tuesday.
Ms Hickmott urged policyholders to act quickly.
“Insurance providers will expect evidence of mitigation efforts before applying premium discounts,” she warned.
“Bodies corporates should engage their insurers early to understand what documentation is required.
“The sooner Queenslanders start planning for these upgrades, the sooner they’ll see the financial rewards.”
New research from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) revealed that home insurance policies needed to evolve, and move toward making Australian homes more resilient to future disasters.
“We found that a key policy mechanism for reducing disaster risk is the approach commonly known as ‘build back better’,” lead researcher, Professor David Sanderson from the University of New South Wales, said.
“This means that after disasters houses are rebuilt so that they are more resilient to future flood and fire hazards.
“This might include building homes that are raised above flood levels or use fire-resistant building materials.”
The report found that insurance costs were already a burden for many households, noting that underinsurance was becoming more common.
Home insurance premiums in 2023 increased by 28 per cent on average, but were far greater for the highest-risk properties, the report revealed.
“These increased by more than 50 per cent. Underinsurance is likely to become increasingly problematic as floods and bushfires intensify and become more frequent in the future.”
Ms Taylor said that insurance premiums were edging closer toward unaffordability.
“For many families, especially those in high-risk areas, it’s becoming harder and harder to justify the cost,” she said.
“We’ve seen price differences in the thousands for the exact same home, in the exact same suburb.
“When you see a policy come back at over $9,000, or even over $11,000 like we saw in Brisbane — it really does feel like we’re moving into crisis territory.
“That’s not just unaffordable — it’s outrageous.”
Originally published as $11k-plus: The ‘outrageous’ cost to insure a Qld home revealed