Independent provider of industry-wide catastrophe insurance data PERILS has today released an industry loss footprint for Tropical Cyclone Seroja that totals AU$394 million.
This compares to the figure of $434 million issued by PERILS three months after the event.
While the industry loss resulting from Tropical Cyclone Seroja remains below the PERILS loss-capturing threshold, the prominence of the event in local and international media led PERILS to make an exception to the standard reporting criteria.
The updated industry loss figure is based on detailed loss data collected from the majority of the Australian insurance market and primarily composed of property losses which represent 98.6% of the total industry loss, while motor losses represent 1.4%
“As a recent research project by Geoscience Australia and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services showed, the loss impact of Cyclone Seroja would have been far greater had the storm crossed further south and made a direct hit on the town of Geraldton,” said Darryl Pidcock, Head of PERILS Asia-Pacific,
“As such Seroja serves as a warning that devastating tropical cyclones can happen in the northwest of the state of Western Australia. Today’s release of our industry loss footprint therefore provides additional insight into our understanding of cyclone risk in this remote region of Australia.”
