Allianz Australia has defended its decision to deny North Queenslanders home insurance cover for cyclone, storm and flood damage. In fact, it has been withdrawing from the market since 2003.

The company issued a statement yesterday after Townsville residents reported difficulty in sourcing cover from the insurer.

A spokesman says in some cases the company will “regretfully decline” to renew some cover for direct customers due to high “geographical concentrations of risk”.

A spokesman for Allianz told insuranceNEWS.com.au that the company has not been taking on new direct customers in North Queensland for almost five years, and the decision not to renew existing policyholders was made in June.

“We actually haven’t been writing business direct since 2003, and that was a decision made from a risk perspective,” the spokesman said.
 
He says direct customers living in high-risk areas only represent a small proportion of its customer base.

“We have less than 500 customers that this decision impacts on directly,” the spokesman said.  

Customers who have purchased Allianz products through brokers and financial institutions will not be affected.