ARPC declares cyclone event for Tropical Cyclone Dianne

By Ryan Hewlett

March 31 - (The Insurer) - Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation has declared ex-Tropical Cyclone Dianne, which affected large parts of Western Australia over the weekend, as a cyclone event under the federal government’s reinsurance pool.

Dianne made landfall in the early hours of Saturday morning along Western Australia's Kimberley coast as a Category 1 tropical cyclone but later weakened to a tropical low, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

Heavy rain and flooding affected personal and commercial property as well as infrastructure.

In a statement on Saturday, ARPC CEO Christopher Wallace said Dianne became a designated cyclone event at 2:18 a.m. local time on Saturday. The claims period for the event also started at this time.

Under the rules for the reinsurance pool, cover is triggered within 24 hours of the Bureau of Meteorology advising that a cyclone exists and is likely to affect a part of Australia.

Dianne is the latest storm to be declared a cyclone event under the Terrorism and Cyclone Insurance Act 2003 and follows Tropical Cyclone Isla in April and Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle in early February.

Initially launched in July 2022, the cyclone pool is a reinsurance arrangement that covers household, strata and small business property insurance policies across Australia.

The pool is backed by a A$10 billion government guarantee and is operated by ARPC.

The scheme aims to reduce premium prices and increase competition in cyclone-affected regions by foregoing a profit margin. More than 880,000 residential and small business property insurance policies in northern Australia are expected to be eligible to be covered by the pool.