In Victoria a court case has started over the very bad bushfires of
2011. This class case against an electricity company could run into billions because of the number of deaths.

The government has complained of “Gold Plating” the electrical system causing electricity rates to be too high.
Could this particular fire have been caused by not Gold Plating the system.

In the oil well blow out in the Gulf of Mexico BP and Halliburton and
some other companies have faced penalties of many Billions of dollars
and if BP had not been able to show that other companies shared the
blame it could have meant the end of BP.

Some of these risks are uninsurable.
Is there a need for a different system of compensating those suffering losses ?

If the Victorian case and perhaps others next summer end up
bankrupting the electrical company it would have to stop trading and
cut off the electricity on the day of the court decision..

If BP and or other offshore oil companies have similar problems again
they may not have insurance cover and could become bankrupt.
If off shore drilling is uninsurable all offshore drilling could stop
and oil supplies could be halved and world wide rationing would be implemented.

The question is, if companies engaged on essential production are
found responsible should there be a different way to compensate victims.

Bazz,
I cannot answer your question but will think about it.

I am not very happy with insurers because my home insurance went up dramaticly this year and they said it is to recover the money they lost in the Brisbane floods.

Hell they had 10-12 years of drought before where there were no floods at all, but that does not count. They want to win every year.

I have put a lot of time, effort and money making this place as defendable as possible from bushfire, but i get no discount on my insurance. Am thinking of installing an interior sprinkler system and carrying my own insurance and i am well out of flood reach.

Banjo, I forgot about the claim about the operators of the Wyvern dam
who are accused of causing the Brisbane flood.
I think this problem should really have politicians involved.
It is conceivable that even a government could be bankrupted.
The Federal government could just print the money, but state governments
could be wiped out.

Bazz,
Yes, I agree.

I heard a retired builder from Brisbane say that 50% of the homes flooded were approved and built below the 1974 flood level.

Was not the Brisbane City Council responsible for that and was not Jim Sooley mayor at the time?

It is an absolute disgrace and I feel so sorry for those affected and who bought approved land and built on it. The councilors should be held accountable. Would not be surprized if a lot of money passed under the table.

From news reports, some are now concerned that the same has been done in western Sydney near the Hawkesbury, so one day there will be a flood. Town planners are supposed to have a degree, but I guess that does not include common sence.

Yes Banjo that problem is not with the Hawkesbury so much but upstream
on the Nepean River.
At a Hornsby Kuringai Emergency Management Committee a talk was given
by someone from the Water Board, now Sydney Water, about the Warragamba
Dam spilling over if we got a certain type of rain storm.
It was pointed out that the only escape road out of the area would be
under water.
The government after that raised the road by about 5 Metres I think.
They have arranged the auto ring to all phones in the area to give
orders to leave the area. Houses roofs would be 10 metres under water.
Downstream there would be severe flooding but not on the scale of
South Penrith.
We are not responsible for that part of Sydney but we would be
affected directly from Wiseman's Ferry down to Broken Bay.

A few years later we did get a storm of that nature but it ended up
just a few miles too far south to cause the problem.
It was a very narrow miss.

It is not always the fault of councils, as all too often, councils/planners are taken to court over rulings, which developers are seeking to have overturned.

You have to remember that a multi million dollar developer usually has a much better lawyer than a local council.

As for companies and governments being sued, I think in this day and age of dog eat dog, the time has come that all governments should have indemnity insurance, as we, the poor old, often powerless, tax payers are running out of steam, as our taxes simply can't keep up with government spending, esspecially when much of the spending turns to waste.

I am sure many would like to have the past five years (federally) and the past ten plus (in QLD) over again, as I'm sure that our taxes wouldn't be wasted, as they have, if given another shot.