Catastrophe insurance data provider PERILS has settled on a fourth and final industry loss estimate of AU $839 million (US $653 million) for the April 2020 Central Queensland Hailstorms.
This represents a significant increase on PERILS’ previous loss estimate of $604 million, which was issued in October 2020, six months on from the event.
The loss figure covers the property and motor hull lines of business, although this proved to be an atypical hail event in that only 4% of the total loss was attributed to motor, while 96% were due to losses in property lines of business.
Severe thunderstorms developed over the Central Highlands and Capricornia districts in Queensland on the afternoon of 19 April producing hail of 8 to 10 cm in diameter.
PERILS’ notes that this was an unusual event for the region given the partly extreme size of hailstones and the fact that it occurred late in the season.
The re/insurance industry also faced several challenges dealing with late and significant claims development
“During 2020, the industry experienced a number of challenging events such as the Australian bushfires, hailstorms in January and October as well as an East Coast Low event,” commented Darryl Pidcock, Head of PERILS Asia-Pacific.
“Whilst the Central Queensland hailstorms were not as significant in industry loss terms as other events, the event has presented the industry with challenges dealing with significant claims being lodged some months after the event,” we continued.
“Lessons gained from these losses include the effect of local building regulations to better understand potential exposures and how these can be captured in models. We are very pleased to support the market by providing this industry loss data to facilitate improvements in modelling especially regarding vulnerabilities and would also like to thank our insurance partners for enabling us to compile this report.”
