{"id":237272,"date":"2019-06-07T13:27:42","date_gmt":"2019-06-07T03:27:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=237272"},"modified":"2020-07-19T16:29:02","modified_gmt":"2020-07-19T06:29:02","slug":"fires-blamed-for-insurance-hike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/06\/07\/fires-blamed-for-insurance-hike\/","title":{"rendered":"Fires Blamed For Insurance Hike"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The devastating fire on a Sunday morning in 2016 razed the Swickers boning room … it has since been completely rebuilt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 7, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Swickers’ devastating fire in Kingaroy in 2016 – and another fire at an Adelaide abattoir two years later – have been blamed for a large rise in insurance premiums for some food processors.<\/p>\n

An ABC news report on Friday linked the two fires to huge insurance bills at grower-owned dairy and meat co-ops.<\/p>\n

The problem lies with the combustible polystyrene panels that are used in chiller and freezer rooms in many food processing plants.<\/p>\n

A NSW-based beef and pork processor, Northern Co-operative Meat Company, told the ABC that insurance quotes had more than tripled in the wake of the two fires.<\/p>\n

They had now turned to UK underwriters in a bid to lower their premium costs.<\/p>\n

Another company, Norco, had started to remove the panels to reduce the fire risk and associated insurance costs.<\/p>\n

Acting CEO Greg McNamara told the ABC the company was anticipating a 20 to 30 per cent increase in insurance costs.<\/p>\n

No one was injured in the blaze which razed the boning room and associated facilities at Swickers in November 2016.<\/p>\n

Reports at the time blamed a light fitting for sparking the huge fire.<\/p>\n