ARPC exposure under state-backed cyclone pool nears A$2.23 trillion

By Ryan Hewlett

May 21 - (The Insurer) - The state-backed cyclone pool in Australia has paid out more than A$120 million ($77.5 million) in claims since launch, with the scheme now underpinning aggregate building exposure of almost A$2.23 trillion, according to new statistics.

Operated by the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation (ARPC), the pool has now settled 9,399 claims relating to property damage caused by cyclones with a total value of A$121 million.

The figures were revealed in ARPC’s latest premium and exposure statistics report, which draws on data generated by the cyclone pool, which operates Australia wide, but targets support to cyclone-prone areas.

Formally launched by the Australian government in July 2022, the pool now covers over 3.1 million buildings against financial loss from cyclones with an aggregate building exposure of just under A$2.23 trillion.

This is up from the A$2.17 trillion of aggregate building exposure reported by the pool in its previous quarterly report, published in February and covering the three months to September 30, 2024.

As of December 31, 2024, the cyclone pool had annual premiums of approximately A$546 million for home, A$53 million for strata and A$25 million for SME properties.

In addition, the pool provides annual discounts to home properties for property level mitigation activities of A$6.9 million.

The cyclone pool was launched by ARPC in 2022 under the amended Terrorism and Cyclone Insurance Act 2003 and is intended to help make insurance more affordable and more available in areas with medium to high cyclone risk.

The pool’s previous quarterly report, published in October 2024 and covering the four months to June 30, revealed that the scheme had reached close to 99% market coverage of eligible insureds across the northern parts of the country by sum insured or premium.

As previously reported, the pool is intended to be cost-neutral to the government over the long term, and is supported by an annually reinstated $10 billion Commonwealth guarantee.