CARAVANNERS are reeling in the wake of massive increases in their
insurance bills.
Travellers are being asked to fork out up to 40 percent more in premiums
as insurance companies attempt to recoup some of their losses after hefty
payouts following a series of natural disasters in Queensland, New South
Wales and Victoria.
The
Insurance Council of
Australia told Caravanning News it
could not comment on rising premiums, adding: "The
issue of policy pricing is a commercial decision for individual insurance
companies."
Meanwhile, one dumbfounded grey nomad fumed: "I was
flabbergasted when my renewal notice arrived ... they wanted to up my
premium by hundreds of dollars. Are they trying to force us poor
aged pensioners off the road or something?"
Another caravanner, whose two-week-old Royal Flair was left peppered with
dents after a Brisbane hailstorm, was shocked to find his insurance had
soared by $251.
And Victorian caravanner Troy Tisdale said he was being asked to pay an
extra $200 on the $600 insurance premium for his $45,000 Jayco.
"I realise insurance companies took a battering earlier this year, but
surely they underwrite their losses. What about all the good years when
they enjoyed few claims and when profits must have increased substantially
... I don't remember them lowering my premiums then," he complained
to Caravanning News.
The insurance industry blamed this year's combination of
floods, bushfires, storms and the global financial crisis for the
increases ... and warned that premiums could continue rising.
A spokesman for MHIA, who has been providing insurance for touring
caravans, motorhomes, camper trailers and on-site caravans since 1990, was
apologetic over increases in premiums but said it had been hit hard with claims after this
year's natural disasters.
"Claims for incidents along the east coast have
skyrocketed due to these Acts of God," he said. "We have been losing money
in the last 12 months and had we not increased premiums there would have
been the danger of the underwriters pulling out."
The company had been paying out $1.50 in claims for every dollar received
from premiums, he added.
Meanwhile, Queensland-based insurance company Suncorp said it had already
exceeded its $120 million half-year allowance for major weather events by
about $70 million.
And the Insurance Australia Group had exhausted its allowance by $23 million.
One insurance broker said premiums were increasing between 10 and 15
percent for most forms of insurance, including the caravan sector.
"It's a combination of natural disasters and falling investment markets,"
he explained.
