Opening statement to the parliamentary inquiry into 2022 floods

Insurance Australia Group Managing Director and CEO Nick Hawkins opening statement to the Inquiry into insurers’ responses to 2022 major floods claims.

Thank you, chair, and thank you for the opportunity to present to the inquiry. The 2022 floods were devastating for all Australians and their impact on people and communities across the country, of course, heartbreaking.

Tragically, people lost their lives during these floods and hundreds of communities throughout the region have spent the past couple of years recovering and rebuilding.

I, along with other members of our team including Luke and Julie, who are here today, have visited many of the affected towns and communities right around Australia.

We’ve met with our customers and we’ve spoken to local community leaders and partners about their experience. Being on the ground has helped us better understand the devastation in these communities and the experiences that our customers have faced.

We know we don’t always get things right and sometimes we have to make some tough calls, but our focus is always on working with our customers to support them at claims time by providing the right information and help.

Importantly, we have endorsed the recommendations and findings of the Insurance Council of Australia’s commissioned independent review into the floods. We’ve taken steps to adopt the recommendations as we continue to look for opportunities to support our customers.

This includes improving the way we manage demand for temporary accommodation following major events, particularly where customers require long term support. Enhancement of our digital capability has improved the prioritisation and oversight of claim status, so we can better identify vulnerable customers and assist customers who have more complex need.

Away from the immediate response to major weather events, we have a long term focus on improving resilience and reducing risk for our customers and the communities they live in.

We’re working to share our knowledge and expertise because we understand that reducing risk improves the safety of our customers and improves insurance affordability.

That’s why we’re an active participant in conversations with government around mitigation solutions, including building codes, land planning and extreme risk areas planned relocation.

In that context, we welcome the federal government’s announcements of nearly $400 million in funding for key disaster preparedness. We also value our membership in the government’s Hazard Insurance Partnership, and Julie is our representative on that.

And we know how critical it is to identify opportunities for Disaster Risk Reduction with the aim of improving. Insurance, affordability and availability.

Thank you again chair for the opportunity to meet with the inquiry.