PERILS, the catastrophe loss aggregator, has released its third and lowest insured loss estimate for the southern Australian severe storms which occurred in late October 2021, of AUD 1.016 billion.
Back in January, PERILS released its second estimate which reaffirmed its first loss report, pegging the insurance industry loss from this event at AUD 1.028 billion.
The updated and slightly lower AUD 1.016 billion figure is based on detailed loss data collected from the majority of the Australian insurance market.
According to PERILS, the latest total is primarily driven by personal lines property and motor losses, which make up 78%, or AUD 793 million of the total industry loss. 62%, or AUD 630 million of the total industry loss relates to the state of South Australia, which bore the brunt of the storms.
As a reminder, on 28 and 29 October 2021, a low-pressure system generated damaging hail, wind and severe thunderstorms across the states of South Australia, Victoria, and Tasmania.
Darryl Pidcock, Head of PERILS Asia-Pacific, commented: “Whilst the focus has understandably been on the recent Eastern Australia Flood losses, the Southern Australia Severe Storms event is a reminder of the ongoing challenges the industry faces in managing Australian natural catastrophe risks. This event is not only one of the largest on record for southern Australia, but also a rather complex occurrence with a mix of hail, wind and rainfall-related losses.
“The detailed industry loss report released today will enable the industry to break the losses down by line of business, post code and physical intensity. Given the increased industry focus on improving catastrophe modelling for secondary perils we believe this report will further support efforts on this front.”
Luzi Hitz, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PERILS, added: “I would like to thank our data-providing insurance partners for their ongoing support, especially during a period when resources are focused on dealing with the recent record floods in Eastern Australia. Successful management of natural catastrophe risk exposures is highly dependent on reliable and accurate data, which is precisely what we look to provide to the Australian market, and we are indebted to our data providers for supporting us in this endeavour.”
