General insurance
Opinion
Extreme weather
Minister warns insurers over ‘unfair’ premiums in disaster hotspots
The insurance giants are the latest big companies attracting unwanted government attention over some of their prices.
- by Clancy Yeates
Latest
Minister rejects icare premium plea, caps rises at 8%
The parlous financial state of embattled workers’ compensation insurer icare is so severe it has been slapped with a formal ministerial directive to cap urgently needed premium increases.
- by Lucy Cormack
When living longer means getting no value for funeral insurance
Gill and Alan Brown have so far paid $21,500 for a $9500 benefit to cover the cost of each funeral. By their late 80s the couple may have shelled out $30,000 more.
- by Anna Patty
‘Somebody has to pay’: What to do about surging insurance costs?
As premiums soar, more people in disaster-prone areas can’t afford to protect their properties.
- by Clancy Yeates
Australians still being overcharged for home and vehicle insurance
Australians are frequently being over-charged for different types of insurance, in breach of the industry’s Code of Practice.
- by John Collett
Floods and storms costs insurers $12 billion
The growing cost of severe weather has groups calling for more to be done to protect Australian lives and property.
- by Catherine Naylor
Did flood or storm ruin Eugowra’s homes? Thousands of dollars rest on the answer
Eugowra residents will get almost nothing if their homes were devastated by flood water. They will be much better off if the damage was due to the storm.
- by Jordan Baker
Scheme needed to cut insurance premiums amid ‘market failures’: Consumer lobby
Natural disasters are making household insurance unaffordable, the lobby group for insurance customers says.
- by Mike Foley
Extreme weather, war tip QBE catastrophe costs over $100 million
The cost of catastrophe claims at the insurance giant is climbing faster than expected, with QBE’s assumed net catastrophe costs for 2022 to come in at $1.06 billion.
- by Simone Fox Koob
Opinion
Health insurance
Six weeks (and six ways) to milk this year’s health cover for all it’s worth
It’s just possible you can claim enough on your health insurance over the next six weeks to cancel the cost for the rest of the year.
- by Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon
Exclusive
Planning
New laws needed to stop building houses in flood, bushfire zones: federal minister
Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt has warned planning laws are not fit for purpose in the face of escalating natural disasters driven by climate change.
- by Mike Foley and Tom Rabe