No Hike in Insurance Premiums, Assures Australia’s Insurance Industry

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has assured Australian stakeholders and consumers that there would be no hike in insurance premiums even as it faces some $674 million worth of claims from victims affected by the recent floods and fire disasters that hit at least three various states of the country.

To date, the ICA has received a total of 53,711 natural disaster-related claims from Queensland and 11,400 claims from NSW and Tasmania, which when translated to monetary value, amounts to $553 million and $121 million, respectively. The figure could still rise as more claims are still being expected.

Campbell Fuller, council spokesman, said the industry was well prepared for the scenario.

"Insurers had anticipated, with the help of the weather bureau of course, a season of higher than normal floods and also more cyclones crossing the coast," he told ABC radio on Friday.

"They've made the appropriate commercial, prudential and logistical preparations for this summer."

Stakeholders and consumers are wary the industry will impose premiums increases owing to the Queensland 2011 floods and Cyclone Yasi experience where the industry mounted up their premiums.

"That was a confluence of events that led to more than $5.4 billion in insurance losses in just 12 months," Mr Fuller said.

"So that's an extraordinary thing for an industry to recover but in this instance, 2013, much of this has been anticipated and preparations are in place."