Extreme weather generated $4.8 billion in insured losses in 2025, up 727 per cent on the previous year, with more than $4.1 billion of that coming from Queensland alone.
Updated analysis released today by the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) reveal the full toll of extreme weather across the year, with the November storms overtaking Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred as the costliest event.
This severe storm and hail event across Queensland and New South Wales reached almost 93,000 claims totalling $1.78 billion, with damage varying from dents on car roofs and smashed windscreens, to uprooted trees and homes inundated with water.
The severe spring storms effecting South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales from earlier that month has now reached almost $900 million across 41,200 claims.
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred remains the event with the highest claims count with more than 133,000 lodged totalling $1.5 billion.
The ICA's last extreme weather media release noted 2025 costs were at $3.5 billion. The jump to $4.8 billion is largely due to increased costs and further lodged claims from the two severe storm and hail events, which is typical of storm and hail events of this nature.
The total economic cost of extreme weather events in 2025, including insured losses and broader economic costs, is estimated to be over $8.6 billion.
In 2025, insurers handled 294,000 claims from declared extreme weather events, almost six times the prior year, with average costs per claim jumping 39 per cent to $16,471.
Insured losses from extreme weather stood at $2.35 billion in 2023 and $585 million in 2024, underscoring how difficult these costs are to forecast from one year to the next.
The unpredictability and intensity of extreme weather is growing, demonstrating the urgent need for the Government to invest in mitigation to protect Australia's most vulnerable communities from the impact.
In 2025, Australia's general insurers paid $58.9 billion in claims - up 18 per cent on the previous year -across 90 million policies, the equivalent of $226 million every working day.
Quotes attributable to ICA CEO Andrew Hall:
While Queensland is no stranger to extreme weather, four severe events impacting a single state in 12 months is significant, with many communities still on the road to recovery.
Storms and hail are complex events that often have a long tail, meaning claims continue to grow months after the event as more are lodged and assessed.
The insurance industry is very alive to supply chain challenges and pressures across the construction and transport sectors as a result of ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The reality is, these cost increases will add to the already stubbornly high price to rebuild and repair homes when they are damaged.
The most effective way to protect communities and ease cost pressures is to build the flood levees, dams and other large-scale infrastructure that keep homes and businesses out of harm's way.
