Home flood insurance take-up among exposed properties in northern Australia is estimated at 65%, dropping to 33% where there is extreme risk, research shows.

The Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation’s analysis draws on industry-wide data combined with address, census and land title information to identify the total “pool-eligible residential market” and which dwellings are insured.

Home building insurance participation overall is high across the region, at 91%. Contents participation is 62%.

But levels drop significantly when flood cover is examined. The difference is more marked for contents, where participation drops to 42% for those with exposure and 23% in areas of extreme risk.

Communities with both high hazard exposure and low socioeconomic status have the largest participation gaps, and take-up levels also decline in remote regions and where the rented homes proportion is higher.

ARPC CEO Christopher Wallace says understanding where take-up is lower – and the associated factors – helps identify where resilience challenges are more pronounced.

“This analysis provides a clearer picture of where insurance participation and coverage gaps exist across Australia’s cyclone-exposed regions and contributes valuable evidence to discussions about resilience, recovery and insurance accessibility,” he said.

“Participation in flood cover generally declines as flood risk increases, highlighting the complexity of insurance coverage in communities facing the highest levels of risk.”

The review also identifies material variation in how flood and storm surge cover are incorporated into home insurance.

“While flood cover is commonly available across the market, the extent to which it is included by default, may be removed, or must be actively selected differs between products,” the report says. Storm surge cover is less consistently available.

The results indicate that the difference between overall insurance participation and flood take-up is more pronounced in northern NSW and southeast and inland Queensland.

For contents, take-up is highest among standalone dwellings and materially lower for those that are attached, including strata and similar arrangements.

“This difference may reflect a combination of ownership structures, occupancy patterns, purchasing behaviour and household characteristics that vary across dwelling types.”