NRMA Insurance rolls out flood cover
NRMA Insurance has introduced flood cover on domestic policies in NSW, the ACT and Tasmania, promising to cover 98% of those regions at minimal extra cost.
Cover from the IAG personal lines direct insurer includes riverine flooding and storm surge from the sea if it causes damage at the same time as a flood.
NRMA Insurance introduced the cover this month. Some 98% of its customers have been granted automatic flood cover at “minimal cost”, while 2% of customers living in high-risk areas have the option to pay extra for an immediate upgrade of cover or wait until renewal.
An NRMA Insurance spokesman denied suggestions the company may abandon high-risk customers by charging unaffordable premiums. He says customers can choose to exclude the flood option.
Flood cover on personal lines is now much more widely available to Australian householders following Suncorp’s launch of automatic flood cover last year.
“This debate has been going on for a long time and the best thing about this is the certainty for customers,” the spokesman told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “[Flood cover] is now on the table and it is good news.”
The change of tack by the dominant NSW direct insurer has been made possible by the completion of an Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) flood information database on NSW, with further data from state government terrain data and hydrologist reports.
IAG subsidiaries already offer flood cover in SA and WA through the SGIC and SGIO brands. NRMA plans to introduce flood cover in Queensland “later, when information there is complete,” the spokesman said.
ICA continues to develop its National Flood Information Database after its initial release in November last year.
In a statement, the council said its program for ongoing development of the database will incorporate newly released government flood mapping and is “anticipated to be completed in November 2011”.
See also ANALYSIS.
Cover from the IAG personal lines direct insurer includes riverine flooding and storm surge from the sea if it causes damage at the same time as a flood.
NRMA Insurance introduced the cover this month. Some 98% of its customers have been granted automatic flood cover at “minimal cost”, while 2% of customers living in high-risk areas have the option to pay extra for an immediate upgrade of cover or wait until renewal.
An NRMA Insurance spokesman denied suggestions the company may abandon high-risk customers by charging unaffordable premiums. He says customers can choose to exclude the flood option.
Flood cover on personal lines is now much more widely available to Australian householders following Suncorp’s launch of automatic flood cover last year.
“This debate has been going on for a long time and the best thing about this is the certainty for customers,” the spokesman told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “[Flood cover] is now on the table and it is good news.”
The change of tack by the dominant NSW direct insurer has been made possible by the completion of an Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) flood information database on NSW, with further data from state government terrain data and hydrologist reports.
IAG subsidiaries already offer flood cover in SA and WA through the SGIC and SGIO brands. NRMA plans to introduce flood cover in Queensland “later, when information there is complete,” the spokesman said.
ICA continues to develop its National Flood Information Database after its initial release in November last year.
In a statement, the council said its program for ongoing development of the database will incorporate newly released government flood mapping and is “anticipated to be completed in November 2011”.
See also ANALYSIS.