Australia's Declared-Event Home Claims Reach A$11.3 Billion Since 2022 With Queensland Accounting for More Than Half of Claims, as Insurers Urge a Tougher Planning Policy

Australian insurers have produced an insured cost of A$11.3 billion on home repair and rebuild claims from declared disaster events since 2022, and the state that has generated most of the claims is now reviewing the planning rules that decide where homes are built. The figures come from an Insurance Business Australia report published on October 27, 2026. The headline figure is national, not for Queensland alone, and the report does not explicitly attribute it to a named source, although it appears alongside the Insurance Council of Australia's submission. That limitation is worth keeping in mind.

The claims numbers

For declared events from 2022 to 2026, insurers received more than 400,000 claims nationally to repair or rebuild homes, at an insured cost of A$11.3 billion. Queensland had over 214,000 claims, almost double New South Wales, which had 116,000, while Victoria had 25,000. The report concludes that Queensland has absorbed more than half of national disaster claims over the past four years. The data are measured in claim numbers for Queensland and not in dollars, so the state's share of the A$11.3 billion cannot be calculated from the article.

The report also gives a comparison drawn from the ICA submission: in 2025, declared events damaged 145,392 homes nationally, while 172,657 new homes were completed that year. In other words, the number of homes damaged was equal to about 84% of the number built, a ratio calculated here from those two figures. The comparison illustrates why insurers argue that housing supply and disaster resilience are linked.

The planning review

The Insurance Council of Australia made a submission to the review of Queensland's State Planning Policy. The government is simplifying the framework and standardising flood mapping, and the ICA asked that natural hazard protections remain central to planning decisions. According to the report, its requests include:

- Consistent planning and building rules across all councils, calibrated to each area's hazard risk. - Safeguards so that simplified rules do not weaken standards, including for infill housing in established suburbs. - Explicit recognition of climate change, with planning for projected impacts out to 2075 to 2100, aligned with Victoria's flood guidelines. - Coverage of all extreme weather. The ICA says cyclones and storms appear absent from the current draft, which refers to floods, bushfires and coastal erosion. - A clear definition of acceptable and tolerable risk. - Council decisions backed by an evidence base, with state oversight. - Consistent, up-to-date flood mapping, with data accessible to homeowners, insurers, councils and government agencies.

The ICA is developing a national Climate Risk Land Use Planning Framework with the Planning Institute of Australia. The report notes that Victoria recently gazetted mandatory flood planning rules using a five-tier Flood Risk Rating system that restricts development in the highest-risk zones, and that the ICA suggests Queensland pursue similar consistency. The ICA estimates that around 1.36 million properties nationally are in flood-risk areas. In Logan, updated council flood maps prompted debate among property owners about whether the new risk ratings were accurate, given their pricing implications.

Rebuild costs

The report cites Cotality's Cordell Construction Cost Index, as quoted in the ICA submission, saying a standard Queensland home costs about 45% more to build than in 2021. It adds that Queensland has a projected A$127.5 billion in planned engineering construction over five years, driven largely by the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, according to the Queensland Major Contractors Association. Higher rebuild costs raise claim sizes, and competing demand for builders can slow repairs.

Affordability and funding

The report cites the ACCC's fifth insurance monitoring report from June 2026: the Cyclone Reinsurance Pool cut home insurance premiums by 14% in higher cyclone-risk areas, while average premiums elsewhere rose 10% to A$2,310 between 2023-24 and 2024-25. Average home and contents premiums exceed A$3,100 in north Queensland. In October 2026, all 77 Queensland mayors signed an open letter to the Prime Minister opposing proposed changes to the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements that would move the Commonwealth share from about 64% to a 50-50 split. They warned this could raise premiums and strain council budgets.

What the insurers are saying

ICA deputy chief executive Kylie Macfarlane argued that location decisions affect long-term exposure to floods, cyclones and bushfires, that getting location right supports housing supply as well as safety, and that risk reduction over time brings premiums down. The report adds practical advice for brokers: check that flood and hazard data used at renewal matches the insurer's data, discuss flood cover with clients who lack it, and review sums insured against current replacement values.

What is not in the report

The report contains no response from the Queensland government to the ICA submission or to the mayors' letter, so the outcome of the review is unknown. It is also not clear how much of the A$11.3 billion has been paid, as opposed to estimated, because the report refers to insured cost.

Limits

This article is based on one trade-press report and the submission it describes. The ICA is an industry body with an interest in the outcome. It is general information, not insurance advice.