Insurance CPI Trend
Cumulative % above 2019-Q2, ABS CPI Insurance and financial services group, quarterly.
Your Total Insurance Burden
Home, car, health and life insurance combined — Australian premiums are up 51% in five years. See your total annual spend, the five-year increase, and what percentage of income goes to insurance.
Total Insurance Burden Calculator
Combined premium burden vs 2020 levels — and as a share of household income.
Home +51% (Finity 2020–25). Motor +40%. PHI +19% (DOH annual rounds). Avg income $95k disposable (ABS). Not financial advice.
What Drives Insurance Costs
Motor vehicle insurance has been the fastest-rising component of the insurance basket in recent years, driven by surging repair costs, labour shortages in panel beating, and increasing vehicle theft rates.
Home building and contents insurance rose 51% over five years to 2025, according to actuarial firm Finity. Climate risk repricing is the underlying driver — insurers have systematically increased premiums in flood, cyclone, and bushfire-exposed regions. In north Queensland, some households are now paying over $5,000 per year for combined cover. Nationally 1.4 million homes are estimated to be uninsured or underinsured partly due to premium affordability.
The Insurance Council of Australia attributes the sustained premium increases to $16 billion in catastrophe claims since the 2019–20 Black Summer bushfires across 13 declared insurance events. Rising asset replacement costs, reinsurance costs, and inflation in building trades have compounded the impact of claims on premium pricing.
State taxes on insurance add 10–40% to the cost of premiums in most states through stamp duty and fire services levies. The ICA has repeatedly called for these taxes to be removed or reduced as they directly amplify the cost burden on households and discourage adequate coverage.