The current estimated costs from the flooding in Australia’s Queensland and New South Wales areas are now up to $1.62bn, according to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).
According to the ICA, insurers have now received 107,844 claims, with overall loss now up from an initial estimate of $900m. Yesterday, the ICA reported that the cost had risen to $1.45bn.
Andrew Hall, CEO of the ICA, said: “Yesterday’s wild weather in New South Wales has seen a big lift in claims from that State, and as the insured damages bill passes $1.5bn, we can see that this event is shaping up to be one of Australia’s most expensive floods.”
Hall added that the ICA was to welcome the Australian Prime Minister’s announcement of a national emergency.
In a statement, the ICA said: “Once this initial phase passes it is vital that funding for measures that improve protections against the impacts of similar events into the future must also be addressed. The Productivity Commission has found that across Australia 97 per cent of natural disaster funding is spent after an event, with just three per cent spent on measures to improve community resilience ahead of an event.”
It added: “The Insurance Council and insurers have consistently called for an increase in Federal Government investment in this area to $200 million per year, matched by the states and territories. State taxes and charges on insurance, land use planning and building codes also need to be urgently addressed if we are to make real changes to the nation’s resilience to worsening extreme weather.”
