Ruth Haggar does not know when her new house will be rebuilt, let alone what it will cost to insure when the time comes.
When she lost her Quaama home on the NSW Far South Coast during the Black Summer bushfires, she discovered she was under-insured by $100,000.
The rising cost of building supplies has seen that figure blow out to $200,000.
"We insured to one standard, not understanding if you lose that house you have to build to a new standard — maybe with double glazing and closed-in decks," she said.
"It's a whole new cost."
With disasters becoming increasingly common and severe, there are fears insurance in the event of a flood or bushfire will become out of reach for many Australians.
Ms Haggar hopes to insure her new home when it is eventually rebuilt to the required standard, but is prepared for costs to rise.
"It's definitely not fair that some people can afford to insure and others can't," she said.
"The government will have to do something because it's going to be more and more challenging to insure places with this climate change."
But the cost of insuring and mitigating against the impacts of climate change has barely featured in the federal election campaign.
"We do need to know that we can rely on our government, that if we experience disaster that they will be there for us, Ms Haggar said.
The government this year legislated a $10 billion reinsurance pool for cyclone-affected areas in northern Australia, but a coalition campaign spokesperson did not answer the ABC's questions about whether they would consider expanding it to also underwrite insurance in flood and bushfire-prone areas.
A federal Labor campaign spokesperson also failed to address questions about a national reinsurance scheme, referring instead to a $200 million commitment for "disaster readiness and mitigation measures", including "better planning".
But Liberal Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch, who has long been an advocate of the northern scheme as a means of reducing the costs of insurance premiums, said it had the potential to expand.
"We've got a pilot model here if you'd like," he said.
"I think floods are going to be a classic example of the next one, and bushfires."
Business owner and Ballina Shire councillor Rod Bruem said even if the scheme did extend to flood zones, the rate of climate change means it might be too late.
His Lismore farm and small business were among thousands devastated in the flood disaster earlier this year.
The Insurance Council of Australia has said at $3.4 billion, the insurance cost of the combined floods in NSW and Queensland was the nation's "most expensive" flood on record and the fifth worst disaster.
Mr Bruem, who used to be a member of the Nationals but is now an independent, said politicians are "too late" and should have come up with a solution long before the election.
"I've been concerned about the availability of insurance in the region since moving my business from Sydney to here nearly a decade ago," he said.
"The sentiment is, after this disaster, it's going to be that much worse."
Matthew Jones from the insurance council agrees climate change is "worsening" the situation, and that insurance companies, government, and the public need to work together.
He said measures such as retrofitting homes and installing public infrastructure to protect towns, like flood levees, were "not a silver bullet", and government should also focus on land use planning.
For now, Ruth Haggar is trying to remain optimistic she will be able to afford to insure her new home.
"It could get to the point where it wouldn't be affordable for me," she said.
"You just live in hope that it doesn't happen to you."
