The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has released a charter outlining the principles and key actions for addressing the challenges of extreme weather events, as well as disaster preparation, response, and recovery.
The intent behind the Extreme Weather and Disaster Response Charter is to outline how the general insurance industry will prioritise, plan, and deliver a holistic response to extreme weather events and disasters. This provides an approach to solving challenges at scale and is not intended to direct the delivery of actual financial services.
This Charter is currently undergoing a broad consultation process with members, regulators, and the community sector.
The Charter is the ICA’s response to a recommendation by the professional services firm Deloitte that the ICA consider introducing a baseline category as part of the Insurance Event Management Plan to support industry and community preparedness for extreme weather events. Deloitte had been commissioned to carry out an independent review of the general insurance sector’s performance during unprecedented floods that hit Australia in 2022. In October 2023, Deloitte published The New Benchmark for Catastrophe Preparedness in Australia, which included recommendations for general insurers.
The Charter sets out the principles that guide the collective preparations and responses of ICA and its members to extreme weather events and disasters, that have been declared an Insurance Event.
Plans
According to the Charter, the key activities that the ICA and its members will undertake to respond to extreme weather events include:
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Customer & Community
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Coordination & Collaboration
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Planning & Better Practice |
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Before an Extreme Weather Event
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ICA and members: Communication and distribution of key risk reduction and insurance and claims information and materials
ICA: Supporting preparedness and education campaigns
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ICA: Preparedness briefings with key stakeholders including Governments, Agencies, and Partners
ICA: Collaborative community engagement
ICA and members: Scenario Planning considering varied situations and challenges
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ICA and members: Scenario Planning considering varied situations and challenges
ICA and members: Review response systems, processes, and plans
• ICA and members: Assess resource requirements, including training and development of response teams
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Responding to an Extreme Weather Event
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ICA: Insurance Event Declaration by the ICA
ICA and members: Deployment of Industry response teams to affected communities
ICA and members: Distribution of key insurance and claims information and materials
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ICA: Develop, coordinate, and communicate key emergency information and messages
ICA: Coordination of early operational response with Emergency Services
ICA and members: Identification of Industry coordination requirements
ICA: Response briefings with key stakeholders including Governments, Community Sector Groups, Agencies and Partners
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ICA and members: Monitoring and documenting response
ICA and members: Activation of response plans
ICA and members: Industry data collection to inform response and recovery strategies, decision-making, and to keep stakeholders and communities informed
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Recovering from an Extreme Weather Event
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ICA: Insurance Event Declaration by the ICA
ICA and members: Deployment of Industry response teams to affected communities
ICA and members: Distribution of key insurance and claims information and materials
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ICA: Develop, coordinate, and communicate key emergency information and messages
ICA: Coordination of early operational response with Emergency Services
ICA and members: Identification of Industry coordination requirements
ICA: Response briefings with key stakeholders including Governments, Community Sector Groups, Agencies and Partners
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ICA and members: Monitoring and documenting response
ICA and members: Activation of response plans
ICA and members: Industry data collection to inform response and recovery strategies, decision making, and to keep stakeholders and communities informed
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| Source: ICA |
The ICA has 52 member companies representing approximately 85% of the general insurance industry in Australia.
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