PERILS, the Zurich-based catastrophe insurance data provider, has increased its insurance industry loss estimate for the Queensland and New South Wales Severe Convective Storms (SCS) that occurred 21 to 27 November 2025, to AUD 2.95 billion.
This second estimate compares to the initial loss estimate of AUD 2.663 billion issued on January 8th, 2026, six weeks after the event end date.
Again, the loss estimate covers property and motor hull lines of business and is based on loss data collected from the affected insurers, in line with the PERILS coverage definition for Australia.
An updated estimate of the market loss, or the third industry loss from the event will be published on May 27th, 2026, six months after the event end date.
In late November 2025, SCS battered the east coast of Australia, impacting a large region, stretching from Brisbane in South East Queensland to Sydney in New South Wales.
The SCS outbreaks brought large hail, damaging winds, and intense localised rainfall as storm activity.
As per PERILS, the largest event occurred on November 24th in South East Queensland, an area that saw hailstones as large as 14cm in diameter and widespread damaging wind gusts. These caused damage to insured property and disrupted the power supply to 160,000 homes and businesses.
On November 25th, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) declared the South East Queensland event an Insurance Catastrophe, which was expanded on November 28th to all postcodes in both Queensland and New South Wales.
Darryl Pidcock, Head of Asia Pacific & Cyber, PERILS, commented, “Australia has so far experienced two impactful periods of severe convective storm activity in the 2025/26 SCS season. The first occurred in late October 2025, and we currently estimate its industry loss at AUD 1,512 million.
“The second occurred in late November, and at AUS 2,950 million was significantly larger. The combined loss total, three months after the respective event end dates, is AUD 4,462 million. It is possible that this amount will increase further. These events illustrate once again the significance of SCS as a major peril for the Australian insurance industry.”
