Zurich-based catastrophe insurance data provider PERILS has disclosed its fourth and final industry loss estimate for the October 2022 Southeast Australia floods, increasing it to AUD 965 million.
This latest figure compares to PERILS’ previous loss estimates of AUD 907 million, released on 27 April, AUD 840 million, released on 26 January, and AUD 791 million, released on 8 December 2022 .
According to the firm, the latest figure covers property and motor insurance lines, with property losses accounting for 91% of the total industry loss, while motor insurance contributes the remaining 9%.
The most heavily impacted states were Victoria (84% of total industry loss) and New South Wales (12%), while Tasmania, Queensland, and South Australia experienced more moderate losses.
The floods were caused by a series of low-pressure systems that brought unprecedented rainfall to inland Southeast Australia, connecting with tropical air masses from the north. This led to storms and prolonged, intense rainfall, breaking historical records in some areas. The Murray-Darling basin of Victoria and New South Wales, and later Tasmania, were particularly affected.
“Australia has recently moved into an El Niño phase with drier and warmer conditions expected during the upcoming summer. Notwithstanding, the release of this final loss report is a timely reminder of the devastating flooding that has occurred across many regions in Australia during the recent La Niña phase. There is now a wealth of PERILS Australia flood loss data available which presents a real opportunity for the insurance industry to continue to improve its understanding of flood risk,” Luzi Hitz, CEO of PERILS, commented.
“This is the final PERILS loss report released before I step down as PERILS CEO on 31 October. It has only been possible to provide our exposure and loss data over the years with the support of our insurance partners. For this I am personally very grateful and look forward to the continuing close cooperation between PERILS and the industry,” Hitz continued.
