About one-fifth of homeowners are likely to consider going without insurance if extreme weather keeps pushing up the cost, a Climate Council survey shows.

The poll of more than 1500 Australians also found 54% fear extreme weather will make home cover unaffordable or unavailable where they live. Almost half have already experienced a rise in premiums.

More than 2 million Australians are estimated to be uninsured or underinsured, and climate councillor Nicki Hutley says a growing number are finding themselves between “an insurance rock and a climate hard place”.

“More disasters anywhere drive up costs everywhere, and those costs are growing,” she said.

The Insurance Council of Australia says extreme weather events led to almost $3.5 billion of insured losses from 264,000 claims last year.

Climate councillor Janice Lee says recent fires and floods are a reminder that reducing emissions is critical to Australia’s economic security.

“Either we invest early to avoid climate change tipping points, or we pay for constant repair and adaptation, with ordinary Australians footing the bill.”