Perils pegs southern Australia storm losses at $972 million

1 November 2022

Catastrophe data company Perils estimates losses from severe storms that lashed three southern Australian states with hail, heavy rainfall and wild winds a year ago at $972 million.

The final estimate from Perils for the October 28-30 2021 event revises down an earlier estimate of $1.016 billion made in May.

Motor contributed 40% of the total industry loss, while 60% was due to property.

Head of Perils Asia Pacific Darryl Pidcock says while the event has been “somewhat overshadowed” by record February-March floods, it is still one of the largest insured loss events on record in Australia.

“This was a highly complex event with hail, wind and rainfall related losses experienced over such a wide geographic region,” he said.

“With the La Nina meteorological phenomenon currently present for the third year in a row, the east coast of Australia continues to face uncertain weather conditions.”

The storms were caused by a low-pressure system moving in a south easterly direction across SA, Victoria and Tasmania, generating severe thunderstorms across the three states and significantly impacting Adelaide and Melbourne.

The Insurance Council of Australia says there have been almost 600,000 flood claims in Australia since drought broke in 2020, valued at almost $9 billion.