The Queensland Government says it is working hard to deliver fairer insurance for Queenslanders by providing better flood mapping to insurance companies.

Natural Resources and Mines Minister Andrew Cripps today announced as part of Get Ready week that the Queensland Government and the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work together to address common insurance issues.

“The Get Ready Queensland campaign is about building our resilience to deal with weather events that are part of living in our state,” Mr Cripps said.

“Queensland has been challenged in recent years by a full range of natural disasters, including flooding, storms and cyclones, with greater frequency and intensity than neighbouring States.

“Insurance premiums have risen significantly in Queensland and have been fuelled by uncertainty about hazard areas and the ability of insured premises to withstand severe weather events.”

Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch has welcomed news that insurance companies would now have access to the most up-to-date flood risk data when calculating property insurance premiums.

“It was the South East corner of the state that was most affected by major flooding events, yet we in the North and Far North have been equally penalised – if not more,” he said.

“By releasing this information through the MOU, insurers will have access to the most accurate spatial and elevation data and this should have a significant impact on property insurance in FNQ.

“This is another piece of the puzzle and I’m looking forward to bringing a whole range of other issuesthat impact on insurance affordability in Northern Australia to the round table, including the ongoingtendency by insurance companies to assess based on postcode rather than on actual risk.”

Mr Entsch said that for far too long there had been major discrepancies between the State Government flood maps (which insurers used to determine risk) and Cairns Regional Council maps, which, he said, were more recent and accurate in many cases.

"After the 2011 floods, the State Government undertook a rapid floodplain mapping program," he said. "However this was only designed to be used as a quick guide to flood hazard areas.

"Feedback to my office suggests that many insurers were determining policy pricing based on this information, rather than using data from local authorities on the ground.

“At my own property in Whitfield I had to accept compulsory flood cover but if floodwaters were lapping at my footpath, the CBD would be 30m underwater.

“Now insurers will be able to use official flood data and mapping for the first time and they can also access Queensland Globe, which details flood lines from the 2011 and 2013 flood events. Clearly this should show little impact in Far North Queensland.”

Mr Entsch said property owners should also be aware that in all cases where insurers are assessing flood risk, they should be using the most detailed study available.

“This means that if Cairns Regional Council has high level flood risk mapping available for a suburb, it should take precedent over State Government mapping.

“Policy holders should dispute this with insurers if they believe their property has been assessed with out-of-date data.”