Flood-Zone Retail & Accommodation Complex, Northern NSW

A 2-storey former hotel in a flood-prone area of northern NSW with 7 commercial tenancies on the ground floor (food, retail, massage) and a 29-room accommodation wing leased to a single tenant.

The building had been fully refurbished and the owner needed a comprehensive programme covering building, contents, public liability ($20M), business interruption, and flood cover. The combination of a high-value multi-tenancy property in a known flood zone made this a challenging placement from the outset.

We submitted the risk to 10 insurers across mainstream and specialist markets. Each submission was tailored with full building detail, tenancy schedule, flood history, and the refurbishment scope to present the risk in the best possible light.

Given the complexity of the asset - multiple tenancy types, accommodation, and flood exposure - we targeted ISR (Industrial Special Risks) underwriters who have appetite for larger, more complex commercial property risks that don't fit neatly into standard property policies.

The flood zone made placement extremely difficult. We received declines from every insurer we approached, including:

• Axis declined on location risk
• QBE and Zurich declined outright
• The Barn couldn't offer flood cover for the region
• Several other mainstream and specialist underwriters wouldn't touch the postcode

The northern NSW flood zone has become one of the hardest regions to place commercial property cover since the major flood events. Most insurers have either withdrawn from the area entirely or imposed exclusions that defeat the purpose of the cover.

After exhausting mainstream options, we placed the full programme through a specialist underwriter as an ISR policy.

This was one of the most complex commercial property placements we've completed. The key was knowing which specialist markets still have appetite for flood-zone properties and how to present a multi-tenancy risk with accommodation in a way that gives underwriters confidence.

If your commercial property is in a flood-prone area and you've been declined or quoted with flood exclusions, there are still options. It takes knowing the right markets and presenting the risk properly.