For the second quarter in a row, record numbers of people are very concerned about the cost of home insurance, according to new data from CHOICE.

The nationally representative survey, conducted in June 2022, found that 64% of Australians were very concerned or quite concerned about the cost of home insurance.*

"Almost two in three people have expressed concern about the cost of home insurance, with 28% of people very concerned about the cost. With devastating floods in recent memory, affordable access to home insurance is front of mind for many consumers," says CHOICE insurance campaigner Dean Price.

CHOICE has spoken to a number of Australians concerned about rising costs of home insurance, including Bruce Robertson, who owns a flood prone property in the mid-north coast region of New South Wales.

Bruce once paid around $2,000 a year on his home insurance premium with flood cover included, but two years ago the price went up to $18,000 per year overnight. As a result, he dropped the flood cover. 

"I'm really unhappy about it, it doesn't give me a good feeling not being insured, you do feel uneasy and you do feel exposed. It's a big asset, if you lose that it would have a huge impact on our lives and our kids lives," says Mr Robertson.

CHOICE analysis of Finity data also found that the cost of home insurance quotes have significantly increased over the past five years.**

"Home insurance premium quotes have increased by 72% over the past five years across the country. West Australians have faced the biggest hikes with the average quote up by 101% over the same period," says Price.

"Some people are forgoing flood insurance if they can't afford it, while others have little choice but to leave their property under-insured or uninsured. This leaves people in a very vulnerable situation," says Price. 

"Extreme weather events are going to continue to increase in frequency and devastation. Across Australia, it's going to be more challenging for people to access affordable and appropriate insurance. The new Federal Government has an opportunity to investigate solutions to help people doing it tough across the nation," says Price.

Read the full story here: www.choice.com.au/costofclimatechange

Media contact: 0430 172 669, [email protected]

Editor's notes:

*CHOICE Consumer Pulse June 2022 is based on a survey of 1083 Australian households. The data has been weighted to ensure it is representative of the Australian population based on the 2016 ABS Census data for age, state, gender, household income and education levels. 2021 Census raw data were not available at the time of analysis. Fieldwork was conducted from 13 to 28 June 2022.

** Finity Finesse home insurance premium database.