PERILS has increased its industry loss estimate for the severe convective storms that affected Australia’s east coast in late October 2025 to $1.512 billion, reflecting higher reported losses emerging in insurer data. The updated figure, released on Feb. 2, relates to the Severe Convective Storms (SCS) that impacted Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria between Oct. 26 and Nov. 1, 2025. The estimate compares with an initial industry loss figure of $1.108 billion published on Dec. 15, 2025, six weeks after the event ended.
In line with PERILS’ Australian coverage definition, the loss number includes property and motor hull lines only and is based on aggregated claims information submitted by insurers operating in the affected areas. PERILS plans to release an updated industry loss footprint for the event on April 30, six months after the storms. That publication is expected to set out postcode-level industry losses for property and motor business, allowing insurers and reinsurers to incorporate the data into their exposure assessments.
The late-October SCS period comprised several phases of convective activity along the eastern seaboard. The greater Brisbane area in South East Queensland recorded the most intense initial impact when thunderstorms moved through on Oct. 26. Storm activity then continued along the coastal corridor over subsequent days, with further severe outbreaks in South East Queensland on Oct. 31 and in New South Wales on Nov. 1. Darryl Pidcock, head of Asia-Pacific & cyber at PERILS, said the October storms formed part of a broader SCS sequence during the spring. “Australia experienced two episodes of SCS activity in the spring of 2025. The first one in late October, the second in late November. Together, insurance losses from these two episodes add up to more than $4 billion. This is a significant amount and given the observed increase in the October event, which is entirely driven by increases in loss estimates provided by participating insurers, these losses have the potential to grow further,” Pidcock said.
Pidcock also noted the range of factors involved in SCS losses. “SCS events can involve a tumultuous mixture of loss-driving causes. Hail, high winds, flying debris, and overblown trees, coupled with super-intense precipitation can act simultaneously and contribute to damage to properties and cars. Loss estimations for SCS events are therefore rather demanding, even more so given the fact that the vulnerability of insured risk is changing with new cladding and roofing materials being used and more solar panels being installed,” he said.
Separate figures from the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) indicate that in calendar year 2025, extreme weather events generated $3.49 billion in insured losses from about 264,000 claims nationally. The ICA designated five events as significant or catastrophic during the year:
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Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred was the largest single event loss of 2025, with about 132,000 claims and more than $1.5 billion in insured losses across Queensland and northern New South Wales. The Severe Spring Storms that affected South East Queensland and northern New South Wales from Oct. 26 to Nov. 2 resulted in 35,500 claims and $601 million in insured losses. A second SCS episode, the Queensland and New South Wales severe storms and hail from Nov. 20 to 27, produced 70,200 claims and $814 million in losses. Together, those two events accounted for $1.4 billion of the annual total. Other localised events during the year included flooding in Western Queensland, storms in Casterton and Harden, and bushfires in Halls Gap, which generated additional claims but are not listed in the ICA’s main catastrophe table.
The ICA has said insurers expect further claims from the 2025 events, indicating that the final cost of extreme weather for the year is likely to exceed the $3.49 billion figure reported as at December 2025. By comparison, insured losses from extreme weather totalled $581 million in 2024 and $2.35 billion in 2023, highlighting year-to-year variability in catastrophe claims. During 2025, the industry body coordinated three Insurance Hubs after major events and held 13 community consultation sessions to address policyholder questions on claims and recovery processes. The first weeks of 2026 have also featured notable weather activity, including bushfires in Victoria and monsoonal conditions in North Queensland. Insurers are prioritising claims arising from these developments and have staff deployed in affected Victorian communities, while market participants review recent SCS experience and adjust catastrophe and reinsurance assumptions for the current year.
