“As a country, we need to address how we can protect homes in flood-prone regions through government investment in mitigation infrastructure. We must also improve planning decisions to ensure we are not building new homes in high-risk areas,” Mr Johnston said.
Morningstar analyst Nathan Zaia said Suncorp’s claim costs would probably not come as a shock to the market, and it appeared to be tracking within its allowance for disasters for the current financial year.“It’s within the budget, but it all depends on what happens over the next couple of months. That’s the obvious risk that still sits within the business,” he said.
“We must also improve planning decisions to ensure we are not building new homes in high-risk areas.“: Suncorp CEO Steve Johnston.Suncorp, which owns brands including AAMI, GIO, Bingle and Apia, estimated claims costs from the floods at between $230 million and $250 million. It said its claim costs from the event would be capped at $250 million due to its reinsurance, which is used to limit insurance companies’ exposure to large disasters.
On Wednesday the Insurance Council of Australia said insurance companies had received 33,152 claims from the floods, at an estimated cost of $497 million. Insurance Australia Group last week estimated it would face $135 million in claims from the event, and that it was likely to exceed its budget for natural peril claim costs for the financial year.Citi analysts said IAG was only likely to marginally exceed its budget for perils claims, but another large natural disaster would be more of a threat to earnings.
clancyyeates Maybe don’t insure property in highly flood prone areas? 🤷🏻♂️