Your family might not be going on a bush holiday much longer as the insurance industry deems it too risky | carriefellner
Popular tourist destinations in the most captivating corners of Australia have become no-go zones for insurers following the Black Summer bushfires, forcing pandemic-battered businesses to close or risk everything operating uninsured.
They warn the escalating problem is threatening to derail the economic recovery across regional Australia, where operators have been battered by worsening natural disasters due to climate change, border closures and pandemic lockdowns. The Woodbine Park Eco Cabins near Merimbula offer the quintessential Australian holiday experience, within a eucalypt forest where eastern grey kangaroos and cockatoos outnumber guests.
“We do have insurance, but it was really difficult to get and I know of a lot of people who can’t get it at all,” Mr Maclachlan said.He said the business typically cost around $12,000 to insure before the bushfires, but was now being quoted premiums of just under a million dollars. Manager Krystal Ciaglia said the business had been unable to get insurance this year, even with bushfire cover excluded.
“You can’t say we’re not going to do climbing walls and flying foxes and bushwalks, instead we’re going to the museum,” Ms Ciaglia said.She recommended the expansion of the federal government-underwritten reinsurer, the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation, to cover “significant natural events”. Macey Insurance Brokers operates offices across the Shoalhaven, Illawarra, Southern Highlands and Macarthur regions.