Brian and Lesley Smith have displayed a quaint wooden sign saying "Briley Cottage" at the front door of every house they've lived in.
The couple thought they were hanging the sign - a combination of their names - for the last time when they moved into a cottage at Eugowra in the NSW central west 18 months ago.
"I call it our forever home. It was meant to be forever," Mrs Smith told AAP.
About a year after the Smiths moved in, a destructive flash flood tore through the farming village on November 14, 2022, shearing many houses off their foundations and leaving businesses in ruin.
The flood destroyed houses on both sides of the Smiths' cottage, which still stands covered in mud, water marks and riddled with cracks eight months later.
But the couple is battling their insurance company which argues leaning foundation stumps, a sagging roof and ceiling cracks were not caused by the disaster, but the age of the property.
"If they thought it was compromised, why the hell did they insure the house anyway?" Mr Smith said.
Stories like the Smiths' have sparked a federal parliamentary inquiry into insurance companies' response to historic flooding which hit almost every state and territory during 2022.
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones announced the inquiry on Wednesday, saying it will investigate insurers' handling of claims, along with supply chain issues and labour shortages.
"We've also got to look at the underlying risk," he told reporters in Eugowra.
A big part of the Albanese government's approach is to ensure more houses and communities are not being put in peril.
"We want to ensure that, at the very least, we're not building more houses and suburbs on flood plains," Mr Jones said.
"We want to ensure, at the very least, that we are building things back ... better and more resilient to the risks."
Local independent MP Andrew Gee has been calling for the inquiry for months, saying insurance companies were putting disaster-struck communities in limbo.
"We've heard stories of great heartache and tragedy that has been compounded and made worse by the behaviour of insurers," he said.
"We've heard stories of a very cold-hearted, mean spirited and callous approach ... that warrants further investigation."
The Insurance Council of Australia said floods across northern NSW and Queensland in early 2022, the NSW Hawkesbury in July, and several states in October and November cost $7.17 billion from more than 300,000 claims.
The council said the inquiry must examine the impacts of past decisions on land use, and the effects of state insurance taxes on customers.
"We strongly support the Albanese government's focus on improving the resilience of Australian homes and communities against extreme weather events," the council's chief executive Andrew Hall said.
"But more needs to be done to ensure insurance remains sustainable as the climate worsens."
The Smiths, who were rescued by a helicopter as they clung to a railing at their back door on the morning of the flood, want answers for every disaster victim in Australia.
"We moved here to settle down and retire, we can't do that now because of what's going on," Mr Smith told reporters.
"It's heartbreaking how big corporations can walk all over the little guy."
Mr Jones said the federal inquiry will be put before parliament as soon as possible.
