Australia: Better measures needed to understand insurance affordability
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Jan 2021
Households in up to 12% of Australian postcodes may face pressure meeting annual home insurance premiums according to a major research paper from the Actuaries Institute.
The paper states that Australia has a sophisticated approach to pricing risk for natural disasters, which is reflected in premiums that can vary from less than A$1,000 ($743) a year to above A$10,000.
However, there is no clear and widely accepted measure for whether insurance is affordable and data is lacking to gauge the depth of the problem.
The paper therefore noted a need for temporary and targeted government intervention to help manage affordability, in at least the near term. A