Insurers in Australia had received more than 44,000 claims till 12 March following ex-tropical cyclone Alfred as reported by the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).
A press release by ICA said while claims types differ from region to region, pre-event concerns about large numbers of severe wind damage claims have not been realised, with some customers in localised areas making flood claims and many more thousands of customers across the path of the event making claims related to storm-driven water damage and food spoilage due to power outages.
ICA said the insurers are on the ground assisting customers across the impacted zones and claims made by policyholders across New South Wales and Queensland are being prioritised. ICA has also again reminded locals about the presence of ‘disaster chasers’ operating in impacted communities.
ICA said the insurers will only pay for approved work that is covered by a policy. Anyone uncertain should seek guidance directly from their insurer.
According to ICA the insurers have pre-emptively contacted more than a quarter of a million customers with safety and preparedness tips and how to lodge a claim as quickly as possible. ICA said it is currently too early to estimate how much will the total damage bill for TC Alfred be.
ICA CEO Andrew Hall said, “While the devastation caused by ex-TC Alfred wasn’t as significant as predicted, we know that for many, the road to recovery will still be a long one. We want to assure impacted communities that insurers are working hard to assess claims and get people back on their feet as soon as possible. It’s the reason insurance exists.
“We’re continuing our engagement with all levels of government and response agencies and this will remain throughout the region’s recovery process.”
The last cyclone to cause significant damage in Australia was tropical cyclone Jasper in 2023 and cost AUD 409m ($257.2m) from around 10,500 claims. The costliest cyclone to hit Australia till date remains cyclone Tracy in 1974, which normalised to 2023 values would incur AUD7.4bn in claims.
The floods of early 2022 remain the costliest insured event in Australia’s history with $6.4bn in insured losses across more than 245,000 claims.