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Australians inadequately insured against natural disaster: report

Xinhua, June 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

One in 10 Australians living in rural areas do not have their homes insured against disasters, research has found, leaving them exposed to the costs of bushfire and storm damage.

The study, undertaken by the University of Tasmania, was released on Tuesday as large parts of eastern Australia were struggling to cope with severe storms which had killed four people and damaged thousands of homes and properties.

The research found that of those Australians who had insurance living in these regions, one in four did not have adequate coverage.

"Insurance is increasingly identified as the disaster management technique of choice, yet significant numbers of Australians neither have insurance nor are under-insured," said Kate Booth, professor from the University of Tasmania.

"Findings from our survey of bushfire prone regions in Australia indicate 13 percent of those surveyed are without insurance for their assets... And approximately one-quarter of those who are insured may also be inadequately covered," she said.

Booth said that a lack of transparency on behalf of insurance companies as well as the influence of family is more significant in the decision to not get insurance than affordability.

"Mistrust in insurance companies and a lack of transparency in insurance costs and payouts provides a stronger logic for choosing not to have insurance than for having insurance," she said.

The findings come as thousands of Australians in Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania are left in the dark as to whether insurance companies will provide compensation for the damage caused by severe floods and storms.

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) said it is unlikely that owners of a stretch of luxury homes on Collaroy Beach, 20 kilometers north of Sydney, destroyed by the sea as a result of the storms will receive compensation due to most insurance policies not covering "actions of the sea."

"Ninety-three percent of all new home insurance policies purchased in Australia now include cover for flooding but neither actions of the sea nor the effects of gradual sea level rise are considered to be flooding for insurance purposes," ICA's Campbell Fuller said in a statement. Endit