Australian weather losses hit A$1.5 billion year to date

By Ryan Hewlett

May 12 - (The Insurer) Insured losses have reached almost A$1.5 billion ($960 million) so far in 2025, according to new data released by the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).

The ICA said on Monday that insurers had received around 126,000 claims following two extreme weather events this year.

Insurers are prioritising claims from the February North Queensland floods and ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred in March, the ICA said, with an additional 20,000 claims received because of Alfred in the last month, increasing claims costs by A$267 million.

Insurers have now received more than 116,000 claims relating to damage following ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred totalling more than A$1.2 billion. Around 37% of these claims have already been settled, totalling A$146 million.

Insurers have received almost 11,000 claims totalling more than A$250 million from the North Queensland floods.

Insurers have also received fewer than 350 claims as a result of the recent flooding in Western Queensland. The ICA noted that claims from these events vary in severity, and that the average claim from the North Queensland floods is A$23,000 compared to the average for Alfred at a lower A$10,000.

ICA CEO Andrew Hall said: “Rising claims numbers and closure rates are a sure sign that recovery in extreme weather-impacted communities is progressing well.

“To help impacted customers, insurers are heading to Hervey Bay next week to meet with customers impacted by ex-TC Alfred, giving them opportunity to discuss their claim one-on-one.”