Zurich-based catastrophe insurance data provider PERILS has revealed its fourth and final industry loss estimate for Hurricane Alfred, noting that the event has cost the insurance industry a total of A$1.877 billion.
This final figure is in line with loss estimates issued by PERILS six weeks, three months and six months after the incident of A$2.568 billion, A$2.250 billion and A$1.922 billion respectively.
The loss figure covers property and motor hull operations under Australia’s hazard insurance coverage definition and is based on loss data collected from affected insurers.
Providing background information on the event, PERILS noted that Cyclone Alfred affected the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales from February 28 to March 12, 2025.
After lingering near the coast for several days, the system made landfall as a Category 1 cyclone near the Gold Coast in southeastern Queensland on 7 March.
PERILS said Hurricane Alfred is currently the largest insured hurricane loss since Hurricane Debbie in March 2017.
Darryl Pidcock, PERILS Asia Pacific and Network Director, commented: “Tropical cyclones typically bring very strong winds and heavy rainfall. However, in the case of Cyclone Alfred, the wind gusts were not particularly strong, so the winds themselves were not the main factor in the damage. Instead, a combination of prolonged windy conditions and heavy rainfall contributed to the damage.”
“This unusual cyclone character made loss provisioning challenging and insurers chose to be cautious in the early stages following the event, as evidenced by the significant reduction from A$2.568 billion six weeks after the event to A$1.922 billion six months after the event.
“Since then, losses have developed more steadily, with a final loss of $1.877 billion, a reduction of just 2.3 per cent.”
He continued: “Hurricane Alfred is a great example of the motivation behind our work, which is to increase the availability of data for natural disaster insurance to better understand natural disaster risk.
“We therefore hope that our loss data from this event, including its development over time, will be of benefit to the insurance industry should future hurricane events with similar characteristics occur.”
The PERILS report, first published by ReinsuranceNe.ws, estimated the final industry losses caused by Cyclone Alfred at A$1.877 billion.