Our Ark offers cyclone insurance to eligible members

Members of the discretionary mutual, Our Ark, with assets in Northern Australia, now have access to a new cyclone insurance product reinsured by the federal government’s cyclone pool. 

To be eligible, a Member must: 

• Have Our Ark risk protection for its buildings and/or contents. 

• Have buildings in eligible postcodes in the Northern Territory, Queensland, or Western Australia. 

• Not have buildings owned or managed by a government entity. 

• Not be a farm business. 

The cyclone insurance policy will provide cover for Members from loss or damage to their buildings and contents as well as business interruption caused by wind, rain, rainwater or rainwater runoff, flood or storm surge that arises from a cyclone event. 

Claims for all events can be made on the Our Ark risk protection product and its discretionary claims process. Since its launch 3 years ago, Our Ark has managed more 35 claims. Only two were declined by the Board – one due to pre-existing termite damage, the other had remediation costs below the hurdle chosen by the Member. 

“Having a cyclone insurance offering for our eligible Members is a great addition,” says CEO, Charles Pollack. It perfectly complements the broad risk protection wording offered for buildings and/or contents, equipment, money and, business interruption,” he explained. 

“Being able to provide innovative solutions through our risk protection wording, as an alternative to insurance, has enabled Our Ark to grow from $120 million in property under protection at launch, to around $2.2 billion last month,” he continued. 

Members with assets in regions affected by cyclones now have exclusive access to solutions that include the cyclone insurance, and risk protection for all other events.  

Our Ark's previous innovations have been around a PDS wording with broad inclusions and the few exclusions clearly stated, building-level protection customisation and a small number of sub-limitations. With business Interruption, calculating the protection needed is simplified to a three-point formula – what income has been lost, what savings are there to offset that loss and, what additional costs are being incurred. 

“Discretionary mutuals aren’t about hard markets,” he continued. “They drive innovation.”