Answers still needed on cyclone pool: RACQ Insurance

Queensland’s RACQ Insurance says questions remain to be answered before it can join the government-backed cyclone pool, with clarity needed soon as it prepares to renew its own reinsurance arrangements.

RACQ Group CEO David Carter says there are still some outstanding questions around the pool’s coverage and pricing, as well as on associated system changes and the reporting required for monitoring.

“Ideally we would like to be joining next July but to do that we need to be clear on all the answers to these questions,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

Mr Carter says more information would probably be needed by Christmas as RACQ Insurance starts to look at the strategy and structure for its July 1 renewal in the commercial market.

“The reinsurance market needs certainty as well. They need to know what they will be on the hook for and they will need to know of any gaps, and how to define that coverage,” he said.

Insurers, brokers and policyholders remain uncertain about the level of savings that will be delivered to households, SMEs and strata developments after details released recently by the new Labor Government cast doubt over benefits flagged by the Coalition before the election.

“We have not been able to work out the savings from the information we have had to date, so until we get some more information it is really hard for us to comment on whether they are reasonable,” Mr Carter said.

The scheme, administered by the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation, opened to insurers on July 1 but large insurers have until December 31 next year to reinsure eligible cyclone risks with the pool, and smaller insurers an additional 12 months.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will have an ongoing price monitoring role focused on the amount insurers are charging consumer policyholders.

Mr Carter says it’s likely that the pool will ultimately be expanded to other risks such as flooding outside the cyclone zone or bushfire, but at the same time more focus must be placed on mitigation spending.

“We think it is inevitable that the Sovereign will end up having to provide a broader reinsurance pool for natural hazards in Australia,” he said. “We have to have a conversation about the role of the pool needing to be supported by the role of investment in resilience and mitigation which we haven’t had yet.”

RACQ Insurance has finalised more than 40% of home claims and 94% of motor claims from the February and March floods that hit Queensland and NSW.

The insurer received close to 15,500 claims and has paid out $143 million to members amid building sector constraints and challenges arising from the scale of the event.

Acting Head of Insurance Trent Sayers says RACQ and its suppliers are continuously hiring more staff to support the recovery efforts.

“We have around 2500 trades and other personnel working on claims from this event, and we continue to deploy additional resources where possible to meet demand,” he said.