Insured Property Losses for December 2018 Sydney Hailstorms Rise to A$798M: PERILS

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The fourth and final insured property loss estimate for the hailstorms that hit the greater Sydney region in December 2018 rose to A$798 million ($553.2 million), according to PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides industry-wide catastrophe insurance data.

This compares to the third loss estimate of A$766 million, ($531 million) which was issued by PERILS on June 20, 2019, six months after the event.

While the hailstorms affected the greater Sydney region on Dec. 20, 2018, the PERILS loss estimate also includes the property losses from the storm activity in south-eastern Queensland on Dec. 21 and 22, 2018.

In line with the PERILS’ event definition, the loss estimate covers the property line of business only. PERILS estimates that this makes up slightly more than half of the overall loss comprising claims from all lines of business.

“This is the first Australian hail event for which a market loss footprint, based on loss data collected from affected insurance companies, is available at a postcode level and by property lines of business. The combination of this loss information with PERILS property market sums insured allows users of our data to determine damage degrees as a percentage of sums insured,” said Darryl Pidcock, head of PERILS Asia-Pacific.

“Furthermore, the correlation of these damage degrees with provided hail metrics, based on radar measurements by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, enables the validation of vulnerability functions used in cat models,” he added. “As such, we believe that the Sydney Hailstorms loss footprint will ultimately contribute to a better understanding of hail risk in Australia.”

The hailstorms were part of a convective storm system which affected Sydney and surrounding regions in New South Wales, and which started during the late afternoon of Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018. Multiple storm cells generated strong winds, rainfall and intense hail with hailstones of more than 8 centimeters (3.2 inches) in diameter. Severe thunderstorms also occurred in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast on Dec. 21 and 22, which caused additional industry losses.

PERILS also announced that the Queensland Hailstorms of Nov. 17, 2019, as well as the November 2019 bushfires, will not exceed PERILS’ loss capturing trigger of A$500 million ($346.6 million) property insurance market loss and the company will therefore not provide loss data for these events.

In Europe, insured losses from the tidal floods in Venice and other coastal parts of Italy in November 2019 are unlikely to exceed the PERILS loss capturing trigger of €200 million ($221.9 million), mainly due to the fact that losses from sea water flooding are generally not covered by flood insurance in Italy.

With regards to the flooding in England in November 2019, as well as flash and river floods throughout Italy, PERILS said the insurance surveys conducted with its data providers have shown that the property insurance market losses in each of the two territories are expected to remain below €200 million and PERILS will therefore not report on these events.

Source: PERILS