ICA estimates the cost of recent disaster events to exceed $743 million
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has highlighted that the estimated cost of claims resulting from recent severe weather events such as ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper in Queensland and the Christmas and New Year storms across the country exceeds $743 million.
The insured losses resulting from Ex-TC Jasper are estimated to be more than $202 million from more than 8000 claims, while Christmas and New Year storms across the country are estimated to cost $541 million from approximately 71,000 claims.
Breaking down claims by state for the Christmas and New Year storms, 74% are from Queensland, 21% are from New South Wales, and 5% are from Victoria.
These estimates by the ICA come off the back of the Insurance Catastrophic Resilience Report 2022-23 released last year, which aimed to contextualise the insured losses of historic catastrophes and made a case for a more considered approach towards risk and disaster mitigation from a policy standpoint.
The report noted that the 2022 South-East Queensland and New South Wales Floods cost $6 billion in insured losses, making it the costliest extreme weather event in Australia’s history.
The report highlights that natural disaster claims have been putting pressure on insurers in recent times. Not including Christmas storms or Ex-TC Jasper, since the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires, insurers have paid out more than $16.8 billion in natural disaster claims from 13 declared catastrophes and 5 significant events.
ICA CEO Andrew Hall noted that there still might be more extreme weather events on the horizon in 2024, with the summer and tropical cyclone season posing a challenge.
“Insurers are closely monitoring the situation in Queensland as it is clear we are still moving through the summer season of tropical weather with another potential cyclone forming in the Coral Sea,” Hall said.
“These two [Christmas and New Year storms and Ex-TC Jasper] severe weather events have had a significant impact on many, and insurers are committed to supporting their customers through this challenging time.”