The need for action on the insurance affordability crisis has never been greater, consumer advocates say following an underwhelming federal budget.

Comparator Canstar today said the government’s pledge of $3.4 million over four years “won’t touch the sides” and “offers little hope for those seeking relief”.

And the Financial Rights Legal Centre, while welcoming the spend, is demanding greater leadership.

“Consumers are losing hope,” Financial Rights principal for external relations and advocacy Julia Davis told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“They’re sitting there uninsured in a high-risk area with no power to solve the problem … and leadership from government can give people that hope.”

Ms Davis says while the budget did not deliver a vital increase in resilience spending, there are gains that can be made without major outlay, and she praised the government for tackling premium transparency under the $3.4 million allocation.

“It’s the very first step, but we are very excited to see Treasury looking at pricing transparency,” she said.

“It’s something we’ve been raising with government for years, and I feel like we’ve finally started to move the needle.”

She says it is a major issue for consumers, because premiums are rising but they have no useful information around what is affecting them the most and how they can mitigate risk to bring costs down.

“I think having some transparent information for customers on renewal notices, or at quote stage, or both, is going to be a really important public policy improvement.”

Ms Davis accepts this measure alone “doesn’t come close” to solving the affordability crisis – and she is disappointed there is no money to start “scoping out” public-private partnership ideas such as a flood pool.

But she believes there are other initiatives the government can work on over the next year.

Properly funding organisations such as Financial Rights and Resilient Building Council is key, she says, as is acting on the recently released Housing Resilience Action Plan 2030, which both groups played a leading role in.

The plan outlines 50 proposals, and its central plank involves creating a national risk and resilience rating system that would be recognised across the insurance, finance and building sectors.

“If we are not going to start unlocking private capital to kick-start the rest of the plan, then we are just going to waste another 12 months.

“So we are still very strongly encouraging the government to act – even if it wasn’t highlighted in the budget, there is a lot they can and need to be doing this year.

“Our main recommendation is we want them to form an accord and announce that they’re going to proceed with this. We want them to be the chief cat-herder.”

Canstar says consumers find themselves “between a rock and a hard place” and the only thing they can do to bring down premiums is shop around.

“While this federal budget measure to put downward pressure on prices is welcome, at an investment of just $3.4 million over the next four years, it’s hard to see it making an impact,” data insights director Sally Tindall said.