Insurance - Aussie Floods

[Myth465]

What do you guys make of this. It sounds pretty bad.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12167950

 

Up to 20,000 homes are now at risk in Brisbane, as deadly floodwater hit Australia's third-largest city, officials in the Queensland state say.

 

[dcollon]

Here is some video footage of cars floating away

 

http://www.break.com/index/queensland-austrailia-flash-flood-1981836

 

[Myth465]

New Zealand hit Aspen a bit, I wonder who are the key insurers in Oz. They said the big ones on the Aussie exchange have been hit pretty hard. This looks pretty bad and is shaping up to be their Katrina.

 

Im in Houston and a few years removed from Katrina but this looks horrible. Especially the vids of cars just floating away.

[StubbleJumper]

This is a terrible disaster that will displace thousands of families for a number of months.  It will be interesting to see how property owners will be indemnified.  In North America, usually flooding damage is excluded from insurance policies and governments must step in to help out homeowners.  Don't know what the practice typically is in australia.  

[gfp]

From this article, it sounds like Flood Insurance is privatized in Australia.  And not widely held by homeowners due to its high cost.

 

http://tinyurl.com/4s54dbv

 

[BargainValueHunter]

http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20110112/NEWS/110119967

 

It still is too early to assess the final cost of the floods, which have led to widespread evacuations in Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, and left at least 16 dead and 43 missing, said John Birch, a director at Fitch Ratings in Sydney, in a statement.

 

But there are “comprehensive catastrophe reinsurance protections” in place, he said.

 

Brisbane-based financial services company Suncorp Group Ltd. has the largest exposure to the Queensland region, Fitch said. The company’s catastrophe reinsurance program provides $5.6 billion Australian ($5.58 billion) of coverage in excess of $200 million Australian ($199.3 million) per event. This coverage likely will be triggered if the flooding in Brisbane and nearby Ipswich is severe, Fitch said