Northern Australia insurance inquiry 2017-20

On 20 December 2019, we released our second interim report setting out our findings about prices, costs, profits and the nature of competition in insurance markets in northern Australia.

We also make new findings in this report, including about the extent of, and reasons for, home building non‑insurance, and the extent to which a range of measures have the potential to improve insurance affordability and availability in northern Australia.

We identify four new focus areas for 2020 including strata insurance challenges, industry measures to support customers experiencing payment difficulties, and the impact of building specifications and land use planning on insurance premiums.

In parallel to our inquiry, and following the February 2019 floods in the Townsville area, the government requested we assess the extent of non-insurance in the flood affected areas of the Townsville region, including households that have insurance but not flood cover.

The government also requested we examine the extent of non-insurance for small businesses in the affected areas of Townsville and the reasons for this. We report on those findings in appendices B and C of the second interim report.