Suncorp Insurance has reduced premiums by up to 20% for 6000 north Queensland customers who have strengthened their homes against cyclones.

CEO Anthony Day says the policyholders responded to the Cyclone Resilience Benefit scheme, established two months ago. Undertaking a range of home and property improvements can result in savings worth “hundreds of dollars” a year.

Mr Day says the premium cuts vary depending on work undertaken, which ranges from roof upgrades and window protection to basic maintenance and general cyclone-season preparations.

“We have customers in north Queensland who have built their sheds to cyclone standards and completed some upgrades to their roofs, who have received benefits of more than $500,” he said. “We’ve also had customers who have installed external shutters to their windows and upgraded their roof ridge caps to receive a benefit of more than $350.”

The Federal Government’s Northern Australia Insurance Premiums Taskforce singled out Suncorp for its efforts to improve mitigation in the cyclone-prone region.

The taskforce’s report, released in March, concluded mitigation is the only sustainable way to reduce premiums there.

Mr Day hopes the Government will follow Suncorp’s lead.

“There is now an opportunity for the Government to sponsor targeted home retrofits to help create jobs, grow the economy, make the community more resilient and address insurance affordability in north Queensland,” he said.