The Queensland Chamber of Commerce and Industry expressed concern some insurance companies might have been forcing up their premiums, devastating small businesses.

“Anecdotally, there are concerns that some companies are deliberately pricing themselves out of the northern Queensland market to avoid further exposure to the risk of natural disaster-prone regions,” said chamber spokesman Nick Behrens.

Mr Behrens said a “perfect storm” of factors was to blame for “soaring” costs.

“Obviously, the natural disasters in recent years have directly increased premiums to affected households and businesses,” he said.

Cyclone Ita is a case in point. In the wake of the tropical storm in early April, one north Queensland small businessman said premiums which had quadrupled in three years.

Brian Holding, owner of the Beach Almond resort at Palm Cove, said repeat cyclones were having an impact on his business insurance, when the cyclones themselves did not.

"Within the last three years my insurance has gone up from from about $3000 a year to about $12,000 a year," Mr Holding said.

But the Insurance Council of Australia said the industry was sensitive to cost-of-living pressures.

“Insurers consider a wide range of factors when determining premiums for small business and household products. Each insurer makes a commercial decision on the products it offers and the markets in which it operates,” spokesman Campbell Fuller said.

“Where that risk is high, such as in cyclone or flood-prone regions, or uncertainty exists, this may be reflected in the price of insurance premiums.”

He said the council had encouraged people who were unhappy with their insurance costs to “shop around” for better policies, but had also called on governments to act.

“We believe the fastest way to improve insurance affordability is to remove state stamp duties and levies on insurance products," he said.

“Taxes on insurance remain a significant cost disincentive. They penalise responsible property owners and serve as a disincentive to be adequately insured.”

Mr Fuller said governments should do as much as possible to reduce the impact of natural disasters.

“The ICA continues to talk to all levels of government about investing in permanent mitigation for flood-prone communities and introducing measures that will improve the resilience of buildings in high-risk areas," he said.

“There have been a number of positive outcomes in Queensland following investment in mitigation works which have significantly reduced flood risk with flow-on effects to premiums.”

The state and federal governments said they're working towards introducing measures to drive down insurance costs and have released a 10-point action plan.

The plan includes a study into insurance pricing for residential building and contents insurance, development of an insurance aggregator for the northern market, and considering allowing foreign insurers access to the north Queensland insurance market.