FOR LOCALS living on the shores of Lake Macquarie, proximity to the water is considered an asset.
But, as far as insurance companies are concerned, the risk to cover properties around parts of the lake is too high, seeing prices skyrocket or deeming homes completely uninsurable.
It's a real concern for Robert Baxter, who lives at Blackalls Park just metres from Stony Creek.
"I did research to get a quote from different places, and the ones that would insure me varied from $9800 to $25,000 [per year]," he said.
"Ones like Budget said the place was uninsurable because of my address, what that's done is devalued all the houses around Lake Macquarie.
"You can't sell them because you can't insure them."
Mr Baxter said his insurance renewal has gone up 74 per cent, a tough hike for someone who plans to retire in the next two years.
He's lived around the lake for six decades and said for his property to flood, the main street of Warners Bay would have to be underwater by half-a-metre.
"It's got to the stage where you just can't do it anymore," he said.
"I would understand it if I was at Hawkesbury or Lismore in a flood plain but we aren't in a flood plain, we are in a tidal plain which is a big difference.
"You're looking at power and all of this and you get to a stage where people say, 'do I eat or do I insure?'"
A Youi spokeswoman said it assesses flood risk at individual addresses and tends not to insure properties at higher risk of flooding.
"Youi's policy has not changed for a number of years, but we do incorporate new information, such as updated flood mapping data, into our underwriting approach," she said.
"We have customers in Blackalls Park and Lake Macquarie, as our underwriting guidelines are property specific."
Lake Macquarie City Council has received other reports from residents about the cost of insuring private property.
A spokeswoman said its advice is that insurers use data from a number of sources, including historical flood measurements, federal state and local government studies and their own risk assessments.
"Over the past few years, a number of factors have combined to raise the price of flood cover and insurance more generally," she said.
"Council continues to work with insurance companies and our lakeside communities as we continue our adaptation work to better understand the potential hazards and available options to manage risks from rising lake levels and lake flooding."
The Herald contacted Budget Direct for comment.
