In just four months, insurer Suncorp has already chewed up half its June 30 allowance for natural hazard claims, after a run of storms in October as well as the Victorian earthquake.
Suncorp provided an update on its natural hazard claims since the financial year began on July 1.
It said there had been five storms in October alone, and preliminary figures suggested its total natural hazard claim costs for the year so far were between $382 million to $492 million.
The Victorian earthquake in September has a costing estimated in a range of $50 to $70 million, second (so far) only to the mooted $70 to $100 million cost (to Suncorp) of last weekend’s hailstorm in the NSW town of Coffs Harbour.
The top end of that range is about half of Suncorp’s full-year natural hazard allowance of $980 million, which is divided equally between the first and second halves of the year.
Suncorp CEO, Steve Johnston said there had been five storm events declared in October so far, including the most serious, a hailstorm in Coffs Harbour in NSW last week.
“Our Customer Support Team is on the ground in Coffs Harbour to support our customers affected by the hail event. Our national footprint means we have been able to respond quickly to this event and ensure our customers get back on their feet as quickly as possible,” Mr Johnston said.
Interestingly, IAG, the largest insurer and QBE (number 3) have yet to provide an update on the cost to them of these disasters. IAG is the largest general insurer, especially in NSW and the storm in Coffs Harbour must have cost it something similar to the range produced yesterday by Suncorp.
Suncorp shares fell 0.9% to $12.09.
