Businesses in the Victoria’s Alpine region—along the state’s mountain ranges in the North East—have seen insurance premiums surge by almost 1000 percent just as businesses begin to recover financially post pandemic.
The increase has been due to the Black Summer bushfires, which in 2019-2020 saw more than 1.5 million hectares of land burned in Victoria alone. Approximately 187,000 hectares in the alpine region were burnt during that time, according to state government statistics.
Insurance companies are reported to be scared of the risks despite alpine businesses being equipped with snow guns to tackle any potential fires,” Mount Hotham Chamber of Commerce president Steve Belli told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)….