The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has released a flood update that shows insurers have received almost 31,000 claims from the flood emergency in Queensland and New South Wales.
The figure is a more than 100% increase on yesterday’s claims number of 15,000.
“This is still a large-scale unfolding event across two states with significant increases in claim numbers and we expect this to continue to climb as people are allowed to return to their homes and businesses,” said the ICA’s CEO Andrew Hall.
“Insurers are already on-the-ground helping with claims where it is safe to do so,” he said.
The ICA’s news release described the increase as “a much more significant rise at this point than was seen following last year’s floods in New South Wales and South-East Queensland.”
Insurers have experienced a large influx of claims in a very short time.
By early Tuesday morning, Insurance Australia Group (IAG) reported receiving 6,700 claims. IAG’s NRMA Insurance brand accounted for more than 70% of claims.
CEO Nick Hawkins said IAG’s priority is the safety of its customers.
“The tragic loss of life and devastation from this disaster is heartbreaking,” he said.
“Ensuring the safety of residents is our priority and we urge everyone to follow the directions of the emergency services who, once again, are doing an incredible job rescuing people from floodwaters,” said Hawkins.
Lismore has experienced one of its worst floods on record with the town still under metres of water. The local Wilsons River has peaked at more than fourteen metres.
As tens of thousands of residents find themselves under evacuation orders, the NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said the SES has so far rescued more than 1,000 people across the state.
Hall also said that following the 2011 Brisbane floods insurance policies now have standard flood definitions.
“If policyholders have selected that cover this will include water that is released from a dam,” he said.
The ICA declared an Insurance Catastrophe for South-East Queensland on Saturday and later extended the declaration to include areas of New South Wales impacted by the weather event.
The Council said, given that the weather event is still unfolding and claims are still coming in, it is too early to provide an estimate of claims costs.
The weather system is moving south down the NSW coast.
