Insurance affordability remains a pressing concern in Hinchinbrook as North Queensland approaches another severe-weather season, according to the shire's mayor.
Mayor Ramon Jayo said more than three-quarters of respondents to the council's 2026 insurance affordability and availability survey described premiums as unaffordable. Respondents also raised high excesses, limited insurer choice and flood-cover concerns. The findings are due to be formally noted at next week's council meeting, the mayor wrote in his 19 October community column.
The result describes people who chose to answer the survey; it is not a measure of every household in the shire. The mayor has called for governments, insurers and other stakeholders to address the issue. ABC Far North reported his concern that some residents may be entering the higher-risk weather season without flood cover after the 2025 floods affected Ingham and Cardwell.
Residents should check their own policy terms, exclusions and excesses directly with their insurer. No change to insurance pricing or coverage was announced in the mayor's column.
Image disclosure: The accompanying image is an AI-generated conceptual editorial illustration, not a photograph of Hinchinbrook or the 2025 floods.
