Coast locals are hitting Struggle Street hard

THE global cost of living crisis is hitting the hip pockets of everyone, as prices skyrocket on everything from luxury items to the basic necessities of life.

Bills are going up, as are wages, but not enough to get ahead of the rampant inflation which is playing havoc with economies all over the world.

Here on the Gold Coast, locals are feeling the hurt like everyone else, with everything from development companies to restaurants folding under the financial pressure and unable to make ends meet.

A critical, but unexpected area where costs are skyrocketing is in the insurance sector in the wake of last year’s floods.

While the Gold Coast got away relatively unscathed compared to the devastation which crippled northern NSW and low-lying parts of Brisbane, plenty of residents in the southern suburbs of Elanora and Tallebudgera copped flooding.

Now they face huge insurance bills, with one viewed by the Bulletin showing some premiums have increased from about $2000 a year to $25,000 annually.

Residents on average are paying $8000 to $15,000 per annum instead of $4000 to $6000.

Some of these are hitting people whose homes did not flood.

“We did not flood, we did not make any claims, and ours went up 52 per cent. We were told that this was because of the unusually large number of claims made in our suburbs after the February event,” one resident told the Bulletin.

Nobody has a problem with companies making a profit, but when they are so far out of proportion with the economy and with the increasing pressure all and sundry are under, it raises questions about how fair the system really is and how people can afford to even live.