The floods that devastated New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland (QLD) in March 2021 have resulted in a AU$916 million insurance market loss, according to PERILS – an independent Zurich-based organisation providing industry-wide catastrophe insurance data.
The East Coast of Australia experienced intense rainfall from March 18 to 24, 2021 – resulting in severe river and surface water flooding. The rainfall resulted from a blocking high-pressure system in the Tasman Sea and a low-pressure system off north-west Australia, which fed large volumes of moist tropical air into eastern Australia.
PERILS based the second insured loss estimate for the NSW and QLD floods on loss data collected from the majority of the Australian insurance market. It includes losses in the property and motor hull lines of business.
The latest figure compares to the initial loss estimate of AU$1,055 million issued by PERILS on May 07, 2021.
PERILS will release an updated estimate of the property and motor hull market loss from the NSW and QLD floods on September 24, 2021. It will include a detailed footprint breaking down the industry loss into postcode area and lines of business.
