Insurance premiums hit hard

THE long-suffering unit owners warned to brace for 30 per cent hikes to their insurance premiums is yet another section of the North Queensland community impacted by skyrocketing prices.

They join the Anglican Diocese of North Queensland, whose premiums have gone up by 500 per cent since the floods, and the Townsville RSL, which is still battling their insurers.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Association Northern Australia insurance inquiry second interim report, released in December, found an estimated 17 per cent of households (or 62,125 homes) in North Queensland were uninsured.

It is estimated the average home building insurance premiums in North Queensland were about $1870.

The ACCC found 95 per cent of homeowners who chose not to insure said they found the cost unaffordable or unjustifiable.

According to body corporate committee chairman Bob Chad, the 56unit Wulguru complex he owns a unit in had seen huge volatility in its insurance premiums, jumping from $17,000 to more than $100,000 in recent years before coming back to $55,000 by changing insurers and ending an arrangement where brokers and body corporate managers were raking 20 per cent in commissions.

The Federal Government, the peak insurance body, the State Government and every punter in between knows North Queensland has issues with skyrocketing premiums.

Inquiry after inquiry, and report after report, action, if any, seems to come at a slow pace from politicians on all sides.

The Federal Government holds the bulk of the ability to help North Queenslanders out when it comes to insurance, but they have repeatedly said it wants to wait until the ACCC hands down its final report.

That is due on November 30, 2020. North Queenslanders can’t afford to wait much longer.