Fixing Flood Insurance: Federal Government to move on Common Definition of Flood

The Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten and Attorney General Robert McClelland have today jointly announced that proposed amendments to federal insurance laws that will see ... "Every Australian seeking to purchase or renew home and contents insurance will be offered flood cover using a common sense definition of ‘flood’ "

These announcements are part of the Government’s response to 47 recommendations the Natural Disaster Insurance Review report a review commissioned to examine insurance for flood and other natural disasters following the 2010 and 2011 summer of floods. The Review made a range of recommendations encompassing flood risk management, insurers’ claims handling and dispute resolution processes, and the provision of flood insurance. 

  Commenting on the review the Assistant Treasurer said:   “The devastating floods in Queensland, NSW and Victoria last summer showed how vital it is to get flood and other disaster insurance right. The Review’s recommendations are a good place to start in mitigating the risk of disasters and making sure everyone has the appropriate insurance arrangements to set them on the path towards recovery after disaster strikes,”     And added regarding the standard definition of ‘flood’   “The Gillard Government will introduce a standard definition of ‘flood’ to ensure we don’t have a repeat of what happened after last summer’s floods, where people with insurance policies with one definition of ‘flood’ received compensation while people living next door, with a different policy and different definition, received nothing at all.”   The Government is indicating it will release draft regulations about the standard definition for consultation by the end of this year. Click here to read more.   Related links The meaning of flood and defining it for insurance purposes   Contact us today to trial our LawOne Service and keep up with Australian legislative developments like this one.