3 days ago
Flood-hit NSW residents say insurance unaffordable as premiums skyrocket
Glen Schmidt and Cindy West did everything they could to prepare when they heard flooding was expected to hit their town on the NSW Mid North Coast.
But despite their efforts, floodwater surged through their Wingham home, rising to 1.6 metres.
"I [did] everything possible — made over 150 sandbags, put bilge pumps in, the water was just so high," Mr Schmidt said.
With the water now gone, the couple face the daunting task of cleaning up the damage without the support of insurance.
They bought the property two years ago, with flood insurance which they claimed at the time cost just over $2,000.
"But the insurance prices now just skyrocketed to $28,000, we just couldn't afford it for the following years," Mr Schmidt said.
Ms West said most homeowners in the region wanted insurance but few could afford it.
"How can you find $28,000 to insure your property," she said.
Craig and Debbie Emerton, who run a dairy farm in the small village of Croki, said last week's floods had left their property in "total devastation".
Mr Emerton said it was the worst flood they had experienced.
"I've been through the 1978 flood, which only had 100 millimetres of water in the house, then (in) the 2021 flood we had 200 millimetres in the house, and this was around 900 millimetres in the house," he said.
The couple have been struggling to regroup.
"(We) haven't been able to produce any quality milk for a week now, weren't able to milk the cows for four days," Mr Emerton said.
The couple lost about 50 cattle, predominantly calves, when the flood swept through the town last week.
Five cattle were found in neighbours' paddocks, but 27 were still unaccounted for.
"It breaks your heart, they are just not cattle to us — they are something closer to children," Mr Emerton said.
Mr Emerton, a fifth-generation farmer, has been working the land with his wife for 35 years.
But after the damage to their property and farm, they are considering moving to higher ground.
"We don't want to but it looks like we are going to probably be forced to," Mr Emerton said.
"We can't deal with this again."
Like many of their neighbours around the Manning River, the couple were not insured.
"As residents in a flood plain, the premiums are so high so the majority of people can't afford them," Mr Emerton said.
Insurance Council of Australia CEO Andrew Hall said the rise in premiums was due to a range of issues.
"We've had record events, record claim numbers and, on top of that, building inflation has been around 40 per cent in three years alone," he said.
He said about 6,000 insurance claims have already been lodged, and it was growing by a thousand each day.
"What we do need to do is have a conversation with the federal and state governments about a flood-defence fund," he said.
The Insurance Council of Australia put forward a proposal to the Albanese government before the last federal election for a $30 billion flood-defence fund over 10 years.
"There are around 220,000 homes in high-risk flood areas that need to be better protected," he said.
Mr Hall said the Insurance Council of Australia was calling on the government to "put the money on the table".
"Give these communities options that they can work through, whether it's a flood levee, house raising, waterproofing or, in worst case scenarios, buybacks," he said.
Mr Schmidt said a flood-defence fund would be greatly welcomed and "they would 100 per cent accept a buyback scheme".
However, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently said buybacks were unavailable.
"He hasn't even been down our street — our street was one of the hardest hit streets here in Wingham," Mr Schmidt said.
The federal government announced a one-off, $1,000 payment for residents of nine areas who had significant property damage or had lost a loved one.
"A thousand dollars is better than nothing, but when you have nothing, it doesn't go very far," Ms West said.
