The Insurance Council of Australia says that no area of the country is ”red flagged” to prevent beachfront home owners obtaining insurance but it is already difficult, if not impossible, to insure against coastal erosion or what are called ”saltwater risks”.
And if you have insurance, keeping it if you live near the beachfront may become increasingly difficult as climate change puts a growing number of properties under threat from sea level rise and more frequent storm surges.
Members of the federal parliamentary coastal communities committee found insurance policies that contained general exclusions for “saltwater risks”. One policy noted: “We will not pay for damage caused by erosion or subsidence … or as a result of erosion, vibration, subsidence, landslip, landslide, mudslide, collapse, shrinkage or any other earth movement.” Continue reading