Insurance affordability in North Queensland a target of state and federal governments
The federal and Queensland governments will work together to develop proposals and options to directly address insurance affordability in North Queensland.
Federal Assistant Treasurer, Senator Arthur Sinodinos, and Queensland Premier Campbell Newman met in Brisbane this week to discuss the issue.
“The extremely high cost of insurance in North Queensland is a problem that has been around for a number of years. It is causing significant financial and emotional strain for the North Queensland community,” Senator Sinodinos said.
“Dealing with this issue was an election commitment of the Abbott government.”
Newman said both governments agreed with the need for action to address the problem. “We look forward to working with the insurance industry to develop and implement practical solutions.
“We were heartened to discover that Senator Sinodinos shared our desire to work together to provide relief for people in North Queensland who are struggling with extremely high insurance premiums.’’
The meeting built on the Newman government’s 10-point action plan with agreement on a number of actions to be implemented as quickly as possible.
These include:
• An expanded Australian government actuary study into pricing of strata insurance in Northern Australia compared to southern states, and a second study into insurance pricing for residential building-and-contents insurance;
• Development of an insurance aggregator for the North Queensland insurance market for strata, home building and contents insurance;
• Consideration of allowing foreign insurers access to the North Queensland insurance market;
• Reviewing the payment of insurance commissions to strata managers;
• Development of a program of engineering assessments for strata properties in North Queensland to identify risks to property that can be mitigated.
These initiatives will be communicated over the coming weeks with a view to receiving feedback from the industry and community in addressing the need to rein in costs and ensure more affordable insurance premiums in the region.