The federal government has announced a parliamentary inquiry into insurers’ response to the 2022 floods.

“I have one goal in establishing this inquiry and it is to improve the experience for consumers who have been impacted by natural disasters,” said Stephen Jones (pictured above), the Minister for Financial Services.

A media release said the inquiry will take a “whole-of-economy view” of the ongoing challenges from “intense and frequent flood events.”

The announcement came during Jones’ visits to the flood-affected towns of Molong, Eugowra and Cudal.

“Extreme weather events are increasing and insurers need to be proactive and prepared to respond,” said Jones. “The last thing people need when they’ve lost their home, or their business is to be navigating complex claims processes or waiting months for materials and labourers,” he said.

Last year’s February and March floods across NSW and Queensland were the costliest natural disaster in Australia’s history. According to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), 2022 was also a record year for insured losses.

Last year’s flood events, according to the ICA, have so far cost more than $7 billion in insured losses from more than 300,000 claims.

In April the ICA commissioned its own independent review of insurers’ response to the February-March 2022 floods, which is due for release in October.