The House of Representatives inquiry into the insurance industry’s response to disasters will this week convene in Victorian towns affected by floods and fire.

The inquiry by the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs will go to Bridgewater and Charlton in north-central Victoria on Wednesday and Rochester on Thursday. The area around the towns was badly affected by the January floods.

Later on Thursday the inquiry will go to Strathewen, where 27 people died in the 2009 bushfires and most buildings were destroyed.