Shelter from the storm: new digital tool Haven helps homeowners mitigate the impacts of extreme weather

If your home could talk, what would it sound like? And what would it say about how prepared you are (or aren't) for an unexpected extreme weather event? A historic rural Queenslander might make a joke about its creaky floors in a voice you might expect from an old timer, before telling you to check the corroded steel on its roof might need replacing in case of a storm. A new urban townhouse might talk back in a cool cheerful voice that although it’s young at heart, you still need to keep its gutters clear in case of a bushfire.  

While their age, building materials, location and voices may differ, both homes would agree on the importance of home resilience to protect them against extreme weather events like storms, cyclones, floods and bushfires. Both would want their owners to better understand their risk and to know how to take proactive steps to protect them from future extreme weather events.  

And now, all Australian homes have this voice in Haven – an innovative digital tool that brings this important conversation to life.

Haven helps Australian homes deliver a clear and tailored resilience message to their owners. It is a digital tool for every Australian homeowner to help them understand their home’s vulnerability to extreme weather risks – and how to take simple steps to help protect it. 

Haven is backed by Suncorp’s longstanding commitment to home resilience education and leading innovation in this space. 

The launch of Haven builds on Suncorp’s existing commitment to home resilience awareness and is tied to Suncorp’s strategic four-point plan for a more resilient Australia.  

An earlier initiative, ‘MyHome’, found in Suncorp’s existing insurance app, is designed to educate homeowners on everyday maintenance activities that build long-term home resilience. Haven now takes that innovation further and wider to all Australian homeowners. 

Haven uses the property address, property insights such as house type and house age, current weather, and historical event data to create the tailored video experience for every home, plus includes natural peril risk data showing the property’s peril risk level (high, medium or low). 

This information provides property owners with an understanding of their risk to different extreme weather events (flood, storm, cyclone and bushfire), and Haven wraps it up in an easy-to-understand, downloadable resilience report.  

Suncorp’s Chief Executive Consumer Insurance Lisa Harrison said Haven builds upon Suncorp’s existing globally-recognised resilience initiatives. 

“Haven is the first of its kind, and a continuation of Suncorp’s commitment to educate homeowners on ways they can improve their home’s resilience to extreme weather,” Ms Harrison said. 

Suncorp data revealed that, in Australia: 

• More than 2.7 million addresses are at risk of at least one high-risk peril. Around 1.3 million addresses are high-risk of bushfires, almost 40,000 are high-risk to flood, more than 1.5 million are at high-risk of storm damage, and almost 38,000 are high-risk of cyclone. 

“To help encourage home resilience across the country, Suncorp included extreme weather risk data in the Haven experience, therefore making resilience tips more tailored to each property,” Ms Harrison said. 

“We are putting resilience back in the hands of every homeowner in Australia, giving them the insights and tools at their fingertips to make their homes stronger against extreme weather events.” 

Home resilience measures helped a Brisbane family home reduce catastrophic flood damage from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred

Shane’s 60-year-old Queenslander in Brisbane is a testament to the power of resilience in the face the state’s unpredictable weather. In February 2022, Shane’s home was inundated by floodwater; it surged through the bottom floor of the home, rising to more than 1.5 metres. 

“We were caught completely off guard. It was a deluge that destroyed countless irreplaceable items, not just possessions, but memories,” Shane said. 

As Shane and his family began the daunting task of rebuilding, they decided to make their home more resilient to potential future flooding. They implemented some simple changes. 

“We elevated the power board, splitting the upstairs and downstairs power circuits and the air conditioning unit – raising them above the assessed flood level and out of the water's reach.  

“We swapped our absorbent floorboards for durable, easy-to-clean epoxy. We even opened our stairwell and moved our power outlets to a safer height of 1.5 metres,” Shane said. 

A few years later in March 2025, a deluge or rain and storm surge from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred brought more flooding to Shane’s doorstep, but this time, thanks to the home resilience measures, the impact to his home was significantly less. Instead of being overwhelmed by the damage, Shane and his family was able to undertake much of the cleanup themselves. 

“Even though the flooding was worse than the 2022 floods, because we had made the effort to implement resilience measures like our durable flooring and higher external services, the insurance and clean-up process was much more straightforward.” 

Haven showcases the importance of industry collaboration between partners in technology, meteorology and government agencies 

Suncorp Haven uses live data APIs to incorporate publicly available property and weather data, such as Google, CoreLogic and Willy Weather.

Accessible nationwide, Haven is available for everyone to use at haven.suncorp.com.au