The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has said that it is closely monitoring the severe weather and flood warnings currently in place across south-east Queensland and New South Wales, and that at least 14 recovery centres, including Lismore and Mullumbimby, have closed in the past 24-hours to ensure the safety of staff and community members.
Insurance assessors who have been on the ground for the past month are following direction from emergency services and will be standing by to move back into flood-impacted communities once it is safe to do so.
Andrew Hall, CEO, Insurance Council of Australia commented: “This is the last thing communities in south-east Queensland and NSW need, and we understand the stress for homeowners and businesses from yet another flood event.
“Insurers’ first priority is community safety, and we strongly encourage all those impacted to put their safety first.
“We have been on the ground over the past month and will continue to be available under the direction of emergency services.”
As of 25th March, insurers have received in excess of 165,000 claims related to flood in south-east Queensland and New South Wales since February 21, 2022.
The latest claims figure of over 165,000 claims suggests the ICA’s estimate would be above AU $2.5bn now, but sources in the industry suggest an industry loss of US $2bn to $3bn for the first severe weather and flood outbreak.
This second outbreak complicates things significantly, as there will be challenges in identifying which outbreak caused damage and a claim.
While reinsurance has an hours clause, this would be a second event under reinsurance, but it will be challenging to accurately say which period of flooding claims came from in every case.
