Insured Losses for March’s New South Wales, Queensland Floods Estimated at A$916M

PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides industry-wide catastrophe insurance data, disclosed its second industry loss estimate for the New South Wales and Queensland floods, which occurred in March 2021.

The second estimate of the insurance market loss is A$916 million (US$695.7 million), an increase from the initial loss estimate of A$1.055 billion ($800 million), issued by PERILS on May 7, 2021.

The estimate includes losses in the property and motor hull lines of business and is based on loss data collected from the majority of the Australian insurance market.

The East Coast of Australia experienced an extreme period of rainfall from March 18 to 24, 2021, which resulted in major river and surface water flooding. The rainfall was the result of 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.

The areas most affected were the Mid North Coast, and the Hunter and Greater Sydney regions. In addition, adjacent parts of South-East Queensland and Eastern Victoria were also affected by storm and flood damage.

An updated estimate of the property and motor hull market loss from the New South Wales and Queensland floods, including a detailed footprint breaking down the industry loss into postcode area and lines of business, will be made available on Sept. 24, 2021, six months after the event end date.

Source: PERILS

Photograph: A truck drives through a flooded road at Old Pitt Town north west of Sydney, Australia, Sunday, March 21, 2021. Australia’s most populous state of New South Wales on Sunday issued more evacuation orders following the worst flooding in decades. Photo credit: AP Photo/Mark Baker.

Topics Profit Loss Flood