The second insurance industry loss estimate for the South Australian (SA) storms in October 2021 was $1,028 million, according to PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organisation providing industry-wide catastrophe insurance data.
The severe storms devastated several parts of SA from October 28 and 30 last year – resulting in extensive power disruption that affected thousands of homes and businesses, as well as widespread damage to homes and vehicles from hail, strong winds, and torrential rainfall.
The figure for the latest estimate was based on loss data collected from most of the Australian insurance market and included losses in property and motor hull lines of business.
Commenting on the latest estimate and the devastating storms that hit SA, PERILS head of Asia-Pacific Darryl Pidcock said the weather patterns witnessed during spring and summer 2021/22 were “strikingly different” to those seen in the previous year when Australia suffered scorching and dry conditions, resulting in one of the “biggest bushfire seasons in living memory.”
The figure for the second estimate remained unchanged from the initial loss of $1,028 million issued by PERILS on December 10, 2021.
During the initial estimate, Pidcock deemed the insurance losses typical for this kind of storm, generated by a combination of hail, wind, and surface water flooding – further adding considerable losses to an already challenging month for the insurance industry following severe weather outbreaks across the country during the same month.
“For the state of South Australia alone, the storm will likely be one of the costliest natural catastrophes ever,” he said in a previous statement.
