Valentine’s Day severe storm in Victoria, Australia drives 14,368 claims

Australia has experienced more severe thunderstorms and damaging weather, with storms that impacted the Victoria region on Valentine’s Day being designated as a ‘Significant Event’ by the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).

Close to 10,000 claims had already been received by last Friday from the severe storm activity, just the latest to impact parts of Australia in recent weeks.

By midday on Friday local time, insurers had already received 9,947 claims related to the storm.

Now, as of Monday morning, Feb 19th, the number of claims reported to the ICA by insurers with exposure to these storms has reached 14,368.

This storm resulted in around 530,000 homes being left without power across the state of Victoria.

Torrential rain and gale-force winds impacted the region, with significant damage to property as a result.

Andrew Hall, CEO of the Insurance Council of Australia commented last Friday, “Insurers have reported a large uptick in claims over the past day, with an increase of more than 3,000 claims in 24 hours – a clear signal that we need to activate services and support for affected homeowners, motorists and businesses and reassure them that their insurer is there to help.

“We are hearing from our members that most of the damage to homes and businesses has been as a result of fallen debris from trees and bushland, as well as the extended power outages.

“However, it’s too early to understand the full extent of the damage and to estimate the insurance damage bill.
Insurers are also closely monitoring the bushfire situation in Victoria and encourage those impacted to adhere to the advice of emergency services and stay safe.”

The claims have continued to pour in over the weekend, with another 4,421 lodged since Friday, to take the total to 14,368 as of this morning.

These severe and convective storms come after Australia was hit by severe storms that affected eastern states through the Christmas period, which were initially estimated at an insurance industry loss of AU $1.395 billion (around US $905m) by PERILS AG.