Tropical Cyclone Debbie losses continue to rise reaching nearly AU$1 billion in reported claims after insurers in the region received over 58,000 claims from North Queensland to northern New South Wales, according to latest figures from the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).
As of June 28, the value of the claims – more than 80% of which were property damage related – has reached AU$988 million, the ICA said.
This figure comes as PERILS releases its second industry loss estimate of property insurance market losses at AUD $1.4 billion, up by 295 million from its initial loss estimate on 9 May at AUD$ 1.1 billion.
The ICA said in following days it would begin a series of community forums in North Queensland, and in keeping with its post-catastrophe reporting schedule, PERILS will provide a third and final loss estimate for Cyclone Debbie six months after the event on 28 September 2017.
After the Cyclone struck, Swiss Re had estimated an insurance industry wide loss of US$1.3 billion, while reinsurance broker Aon Benfield estimated that losses from Debbie would near US$970 million.
With PERILS loss estimates now at nearly US$ 1.1 billion, it’s looking more likely that final figures will come closer to the higher loss estimations.
The expectation is still that reinsurance providers, which will include some ILS fund managers and collateralized reinsurance vehicles that have exposure, will pay a significant proportion of the overall insured market loss from the impact of cyclone Debbie.
Cyclone Debbie struck parts of Queensland and New South Wales, Australia, from March 28th 2017 into the early days of April, but the remnant low from the storm also impacted the North Island of New Zealand with rainfall and flooding resulting in widespread property damage across multiple states.
