Home of horrors: Insurance is up almost $1.5K in Queensland

The hike comes after a record-breaking year of climate disasters and soaring building costs – but there are ways to pay less.

New Finder research shows that home insurance prices have gone up by as much as $1,444 in parts of North Queensland over the last 9 months.

Quotes were gathered from 16 different insurers in specific areas of each state in Australia. According to the data, North Queenslanders ($1,444) could be slugged with the biggest annual increase of 24%.

The second-largest rise was in Western Australia (20%), then Victoria (9%). On average, premiums went up by $319 and $160 respectively.

This is in line with Suncorp's announcement earlier this week. On Monday, it revealed to its investors that its home insurance premiums were rising by almost 10% on average.

Some homeowners are paying significantly more

These average increases only tell part of the story though. Home insurance premiums have gone up significantly more in certain council areas.

Chris Stead, who owns a 5-bedroom family home in Mona Vale, told Finder he was just hit with a 104% home insurance premium hike. His policy with Budget Direct rose from $1,846 to $3,760. He hasn't made a claim in the past year.

Stead said he couldn't understand the reason for the significant increase.

"We've just had the worst fires and worst floods in living memory and my house, and everyone else's homes in my suburb and surrounding suburbs, were unaffected.

"That's fair proof we're not in any more of a natural disaster zone than people in other suburbs that haven't received a price increase."

In March, Mona Vale experienced heavy flooding, but Stead's home wasn't impacted.

"At the other end of our LGA, 30- to 40-minute drive away, there was some flooding. But that's nothing to do with us. Our homes are not at risk," said Stead.

"Why are struggling families footing the bill to cover the cost of 'what if' scenarios in locations that are at risk? Shame on these companies."

According to a State Emergency Service (SES) flood study, there are several areas of concern in Mona Vale. These include but are not limited to the following areas:

• Samuel Street
• Old Samuel Street
• Bayview Golf Course (including Parkland Road residential area)
• Mona Vale Industrial area

Finding a better deal

While it's going to be tricky for homeowners to avoid a price increase in the next few months, particularly as climate disasters become more common and the cost of living crisis continues, there are ways to save.

Finder's head of editorial Sarah Megginson, who also lives in an area considered higher risk by insurers, recently saved $1,415 by switching home insurers.

Both Megginson and Stead spent some time getting quotes from multiple home insurers. Stead was able to save $1,042 by shopping around.

Other ways to save

Lots of brands also offer discounts for the first year which can knock up to 30% off your bill.

However, you can't set and forget. After 12 months, it's likely that your costs will go up a lot, often enough to make up for the discount you received. You should probably switch again if you want to keep costs down.

Another option is to raise your excess which will lower your premium. For example, if your excess is currently $500, consider setting it to $750 or $1,000.

This does mean it probably isn't worth making a claim for less costly damage that's around $1,000.