The Insurance Council of Australia has extended its catastrophe declaration to include all storms and hail that hit Queensland and NSW from November 20-27.

As of Friday, insurers had received 44,600 claims related to the event, labelled Cat 255.

ICA says the extended declaration recognises “ongoing and widespread severe storms” that affected the east coast, causing significant home, motor and commercial losses.

“As the prevailing weather system has impacted many communities across a very large area, expanding the definition of the event ensures all impacted customers are accounted for and the additional support they may need is available,” it said.

Insurers are on the ground in many impacted communities, including Bribie Island, Logan, Brisbane and Moreton Bay. 

“The extension of our insurance catastrophe declaration points to the severity of this ongoing extreme weather that continues to impact widespread regions across both Queensland and NSW,” ICA CEO Andrew Hall said.

“We also acknowledge that some policyholders face a compounding impact, as their regions have been hit multiple times by different storms during this period, with damage ranging from hail dents on motor vehicles to roofs torn off by strong winds.”