Insurer responses to flooding claims continue to be a point of contention, with premiums skyrocketing in the past 18 months.
Insurers have deemed homes around the region that have been inundated by floods as being in high-risk areas and, as such, have increased premiums, but this also includes homes that were less affected by floods but are still within the floodplain area.
To assist with clearing up misunderstandings about what is deemed a high-risk flood area, residents of Greater Shepparton, Mitchell, Strathbogie, Moira and Benalla Rural City local government areas can download a property-specific flood report.
The report can be found on the Goulburn Broken Community Flood Intelligence Portal, and includes an indication of the likely depth of flooding on the property, the water-to-floor level in flood events and different river gauge levels.
The Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority encourages residents to create a property report to provide to their insurers when they’ve been given a premium increase.
Greater Shepparton City Council has also secured funding from the Disaster Ready Fund to update floor-level information on affected homes in the council area, and this information will be included in the portal.
In August last year, a federal inquiry began into insurers’ responses to the 2022 major floods across Australia regarding claims, insurance contracts, insurance affordability and other matters relating to their response.
Tensions remain between residents of flooded communities and insurance companies.
During a visit to Shepparton on Thursday, January 18, Victorian Water Minister Harriet Shing addressed the topic of government assistance with insurance and said even though it was in the hands of insurers, both the state and federal governments were working to see what they could do, especially within the inquiry.
“We need to understand how insurance companies are going to be able to participate in alleviating cost relief rather than providing a measure of subsidy for those companies across the insurance sector,” Ms Shing said.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the Commonwealth really work on this issue and to provide a measure of national guidance on the impact of this on people such as those living in Rochester, who are in financial distress, as a result of, in many cases, the increases to household and contents insurance.”
To get your property report, visit my.floodreport.com.au/gbcma/