00:00When her home and contents insurance went up 600%, Michelle Vanderlaan-Smith was shocked,
00:09especially as her building strata insurance had barely moved.
00:13Michelle Vanderlaan- The insurer justified the $5,000 increase by saying,
00:18my property's a flood risk.
00:20Michelle sought help from this legal centre.
00:23Michelle Vanderlaan- The pricing algorithms that insurers use
00:25are commercial incompetence. It is a total black box.
00:28Frustration over premium rises come as Australia's biggest insurers report bumper profits,
00:34thanks to years of premium increases and a relatively quiet year for natural disasters.
00:41Suncorp's profit jumped 52%, Insurance Australia Group 51% and QBE 27%.
00:49You've seen price increases well over probably three times the rate of growth of wages
00:55for the last three to five years.
00:57The ABC asked Allianz, QBE, Suncorp and IAG if they were price gouging.
01:03They all insisted premiums are based on risk.
01:07Consumer advocates though are calling for transparency.
01:10They want a national permanent industry-wide price monitor.
01:15I would rather see money being invested in risk reduction so that homes are built in safe locations.
01:21My name's Julia, how can I help you?
01:23Advocates say consumers have limited options for recourse from the financial ombudsman.
01:28AFCA says it doesn't have jurisdiction to look at whether or not an insurer has given you an accurate premium.
01:36AFCA ruled in Allianz's favour and wouldn't release the modelling used to justify the increase.
01:42It makes me very cynical.
01:44Michelle's new insurer is only charging her one-fifth of what Allianz was.
01:50So, let's do this.
01:51So, let's do this.
01:52Let's do this.
01:53Let's do this.
01:54Thanks a lot.
02:00!
02:04Fantastic.
02:07What are the steps?
02:14You feed your mind.
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