Sure Insurance, which focuses on north Queensland, has reported a “significant increase” in policyholders taking action to protect homes in response to premium discounts, and says such incentives should be one part of broad action to drive mitigation.

The insurer says the most common North Queensland home resilience measures include having cyclone rated sheds and outbuildings and resilient roller doors and undertaking roof upgrades and membrane installation.

MD Bradley Heath says there are a number of property resilience measures that are particularly effective in curbing impacts from cyclones that are potentially damaging but well below the maximum category five strength.

“There is a threshold of mitigation where it makes an enormous difference,” he tells insuranceNEWS.com.au. “If you have the right roof, the right roller door, the right shutters, you are going to survive the cyclone a lot better.”

Mr Heath says 80% of the firm’s policyholders across Cairns, 96% across Townsville and 91.5% across Mackay have accessed premium discounts by taking some form of action to protect their homes, with insurer pricing incentives able to play a critical role in improving household resilience.

“We should be lobbying for more mitigation, but we should also be providing rewards and encouraging it through behaviour,” he said.

Mr Heath says short-term housing improvements need to be combined with building standard and land-use reforms, along with longer-term infrastructure projects to achieve multi-faceted action on mitigation.

“I don’t think the formula is that difficult, but it needs a three-tiered approach to make a generational change,” he said. “This isn’t going away.”