PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organisation providing industry-wide catastrophe insurance data, has released its third loss estimate for the Southeast Australia floods in October 2022.
The exceptionally wet and stormy weather from October 21 to 28 last year was driven by a series of low-pressure systems that connected with tropical air masses from the north, loaded with moisture from exceptionally warm ocean waters. The event caused riverine and pluvial flooding in the Murray-Darling basin of Victoria and New South Wales (NSW) and later Tasmania.
PERILS' latest loss estimate for the October 2022 Southeast Australia floods was AU$907 million, mainly composed of personal lines property losses, which accounted for 65% of the total industry losses. Commercial lines property losses accounted for 25% of the total industry losses, while motor losses accounted for 10%.
The event significantly impacted Victoria and NSW, representing 81% and 14% of the total industry losses, respectively. Meanwhile, losses in Tasmania, Queensland, and South Australia were moderate.
PERILS' initial insurance loss estimate for the October 2022 Southeast Australia floods was AU$791 million, covering the property and motor hull lines of business.
In January 2023, the organisation added AU$49 million to its industry loss estimate, making the total AU$840 million.
In a recent statement, Darryl Pidcock, head of PERILS Asia-Pacific, said the event serves as a reminder of the considerable flood damage caused by La Niña in 2022 on the back of the largest catastrophe loss for the insurance industry – the February-March 2022 floods in Eastern Australia.
“In contrast to the March event, the October floods primarily impacted rural regions, with comparably lower value concentrations. The extent of the affected area was however very large, impacting many towns across several states and causing extensive damage over a wide geographic area,” Pidcock said. “With the release of this detailed industry loss footprint, we believe it provides an opportunity for the insurance industry to better understand flood risks in the impacted regional communities. We remain very grateful to our insurance partners for their continued support.”
PERILS will release an updated industry loss footprint for the October 2022 floods on October 28, 2023, one year after the event's end date.
