As claims from a freak Sydney and New South Wales (NSW) summer hailstorm continue to pour in, the Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has updated its loss estimates to around AU$160 million, after having received over 20,000 claims, and insurer Suncorp Group has reported a similar figure for anticipated losses.
Under the firm’s main catastrophe cover IAG’s maximum possible net exposure to this event is AU$200 million, this means that if further claims or natural disasters hit the firm, the insurer could have to fall back on its aggregate sideways cover which provides protection of 380 million excess of 260 million.
The Australian summer storms have already eaten away more than one fifth of the IAG’s 2017 fiscal year’s natural perils allowance, which is set at AU$680 million and extending to $776 million through an additional natural perils cover of AU$96 million of protection for loss above AU$680 million.
And Australian insurer, Suncorp Group Limited, announced today that its been flooded with 11,000 claims from the February 18 hailstorm, with the majority of claims relating to home and motor vehicle damage.
The firm said it expects a financial impact of between AU$150 to AU$170 million.
As a result, Suncorp’s total natural hazard claims costs for the eight months to 28 February 2017 are estimated to have reached between AU$610 and AU$630 million.
Last week Reinsurancene.ws reported an Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) update on the impact of the February freak summer storm in parts of Sydney & New South Wales (NSW), saying that it so far had caused an insurance and reinsurance industry loss of AU$186 million (US$140.6 million), according to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).
The ICA had previously put the insured loss estimate from damages caused by the series of storms at AU$42 million, but did warn that this would likely rise in the weeks ahead with the full impact of the storms on the Australian re/insurance industry yet to be revealed.
And in addition to the higher than expected losses from the February storms, Australian re/insurers could be hit with further early-year high costs as the region is expected to experience heavy rains with more storms approaching, suggesting that homes already affected, and those that got lucky before, could experience damage in the coming days.
The majority of claims, so far, have come from the Hills district in Northwest Sydney, and are in relation to damages to cars and homes, as well as hail smashing windows and damaging roofs, explained the ICA.
