Insurance Council gives recent storms catastrophe status
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More news: The Insurance Council (ICA) of Australia has upgraded the status given to the storms in NSW, Queensland and Victoria since December 23 to an "Insurance Catastrophe". This means an industry taskforce will be put together and claims relating to the storms are given priority status. Power outages being experienced by about 50,000 households across parts of Queensland due to the heatwave are hampering the recovery effort, according to the ICA.
Updated numbers: The ICA's members have collectively received 18,174 claims related to the storms across the three states as of today. More than 10,700 are from the Gold Coast region specifically.
What they said: "Insurers expect claims volumes to grow in the coming days as more residents gain access to properties and power is restored to some areas, however, it is too early to understand the cost of the damage," ICA COO Kylie Macfarlane said.
Storms in Queensland, NSW, Victoria declared significant disasters
The news: The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has given Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria "Significant Event" status relating to storms between 23 and 26 December. There was widespread damage due to hail, damaging winds and flash flooding. The declaration puts in place processes for insurers to efficiently and quickly assess and monitor claims and collect data.
The numbers: As of 10am on 27 December, 7500 claims were received by insurers relating to storms across the three states, including home and vehicle cover. A full estimate of the damage bill has yet to be calculated and more extreme weather is expected over the next few days. The latest storms came after Cyclone Jasper, which was declared an Insurance Catastrophe by the ICA on 21 December.
The context: ICA COO Kylie Macfarlane said a "significant number of homes and vehicles" have been damaged due to the storm. "As more extreme weather is expected in the coming days, insurers’ priority is community safety. We strongly encourage all those impacted to put their safety first and adhere to evacuations orders," Macfarlane said.
The source: Insurance Council of Australia
