Insurance Catastrophe declared in three flooded states

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has escalated its significant event declaration to an Insurance Catastrophe for Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales. The three states are suffering the impacts of severe weather and flooding that started last week.

“It has been a week since the severe weather hit the south-eastern states of Australia and the severity of that rainfall continues to impact river systems which are now beyond capacity, the ground is soaked and there is nowhere for the flood waters to go,” said ICA CEO Andrew Hall.

The escalation, said the ICA, reflects the growing severity of the floods and the forecasted further extreme weather. Floodwaters are expected to peak across three river systems in Victoria later today: the Murray, the Goulburn and Campaspe. The ICA said thousands of homes and businesses are at risk.

“Right now, community safety remains a priority and we strongly encourage anyone in the impacted areas to listen to emergency services, take shelter where it is safe to do so and to not put themselves or others at risk,” said Hall.

According to forecasters, areas in northern Tasmania and in western New South Wales are also at risk of further flooding in the coming days.

The ICA’s Catastrophe declaration escalates and prioritises the insurance industry’s response to the disaster.

The escalation includes obliging insurers to prioritise claims from affected policyholders, triaging claims to direct urgent assistance to the worst-affected property owners and mobilising disaster response specialists to assist affected customers with claims.

The ICA said insurers have so far received 6,350 claims relating to the floods.

“Communities are rallying together to support each other and insurers stand ready to support them through the oncoming recovery period,” said Hall.