Major floods drive Australia's iinsured losses to $7.17b in 2022

The council will review insurers’ flood response during the period.

In parliamentary, Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones addressed concerns regarding the 2022 floods which drove insured losses to climb to $7.17b.

The floods in Northern New South Wales and South-East Queensland, Hawkesbury-Nepean, three states in October, and Central West New South Wales in November resulted in record insured losses with over 300,000 claims.

In response to the devastating events, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) and insurers organised 59 community forums in flood-affected regions, directly assisting more than 1,900 insurance customers in four states, including the Central West of New South Wales.

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The ICA has also initiated its own independent review of insurers' response to the February-March 2022 floods, aiming to learn from good practices and areas needing improvement. 

This review will help prepare the industry's response to future extreme weather events in a changing climate.

Also, it will examine the impact of worsening extreme weather events, supply chain issues, and skills and labour shortages. 

Furthermore, the ICA urges the review to investigate the influence of state insurance taxes on customers' ability to obtain adequate insurance and how past land use planning and disaster mitigation decisions affect community risk and insurability.