Thu, 1st May 2025

In this week's Financial Services Online insurance news, we discuss an Australian Financial Complaints Authority case about the importance of understanding your insurance policy's definitions and limits. We highlight how Australia is revolutionizing water damage restoration claims through the adoption of the AS-IICRC S500 standard, providing a streamlined, internationally aligned framework for handling such claims. However, Australian households face financial strain as insurance premiums surge due to weather-related incidents, creating a trend where many homes are underinsured or uninsured. This presents a serious issue for both the industry and policymakers to address insurance affordability and coverage, especially with only 23% of endangered homes insured against floods, starkly lower than the national average of 60%.n