NSW wild weather less damaging than expected
Insurers have been receiving claims after last week’s NSW storms, but damage from the wind and heavy rain was not as severe as earlier feared.
The Insurance Council of Australia says almost 3000 claims were received by today, which is well below the number for floods that hit the state in May.
“The recent weather event that impacted parts of the NSW coast was thankfully not as severe as it could have been,” a spokesperson told insuranceNEWS.com.au.
Heavy rainfall and damaging wind swept across a region from the Mid North Coast to the South Coast, with the State Emergency Service and other emergency bodies responding to more than 4000 incidents.
The Bureau of Meteorology says the weather was triggered by a deep low-pressure system and associated troughs, with the impacts extending as far as southeast Queensland and eastern Victoria.
The highest weekly rainfall total at a bureau gauge was 341.4mm at Jervis Bay in southern NSW. The highest daily total of 224mm was at Ulladulla in the 24 hours to 9am on July 2.
ICA said last week the total insured cost of extreme weather for the first half of the year was $1.83 billion, from 148,437 claims received.
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred contributed $1.36 billion to the total, followed by north Queensland floods at $274 million. The Mid North Coast and Hunter floods in May triggered 11,547 claims and losses of $194 million.
New Zealand was hit by storms and flooding late last month, with the South Island Tasman and Marlborough regions particularly affected.
Vero Insurance, which receives many of its claims through brokers, says its risk exposure in the affected area is relatively low but it has seen instances of severe localised damage.
“Based on this, we don’t expect overall claim volumes to exceed 200, but we do anticipate the total cost to rise significantly,” a spokesperson told insuranceNEWS.com.au on Friday.
“Current assessments suggest total Vero Insurance claims from this event are likely to exceed $NZ3 million ($2.8 million) as the full extent of damage becomes clearer. With the rain during the week, claim numbers continue to rise.”