Perils AG has revised its insured loss estimate to AUD1.61bn ($1bn) for Christmas storms in Australia in 2023. This is the fourth and final loss estimate for the event by the property catastrophe data firm. The estimate was raised from AUD1.56bn six months ago.
During the week beginning 23 December 2023 to 29 December 2023 the storms had hit the states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland in Australia.
According to a report by BestWire, “A statement by Perils AG said in line with their methodology, the loss amount covers the property and motor lines of business. Property losses contributed 89% of the total industry loss, with 11% coming from losses in the motor line.
“The state of Queensland, with 70% of the total industry loss. New South Wales had 26% of the total and Victoria contributed 4%. The estimate is based on loss data collected from the majority of the Australian insurance market.”
The firm's final report provides a detailed breakdown of property and motor losses by postcode (high-resolution Cresta zones), with the data further divided by residential and commercial lines. The report also gives information on maximum hail size, wind gust speed and rainfall amount, as well as damage degrees, which show the damage as a percentage of sums insured.
Perils head of Asia Pacific Darryl Pidcock said, "Globally the insurance industry has been experiencing a higher frequency of convective storm activity," said Darryl Pidcock, head of Asia Pacific, Perils. "Whilst historically we have observed similar patterns in Australia, during the last couple of years major convective storm-related losses have been comparatively lower than previous years."