PERILS, the Zurich-based provider of industry catastrophe loss data, has released its first insured loss estimate for the Australia East Coast Severe Convective Storms that hit Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria between 26 October and 1 November 2025.
Based on loss submissions from affected insurers, PERILS pegs the market loss at A$1,108 mn. The figure covers property and motor hull business, consistent with PERILS’ coverage scope for Australia.
Under its reporting calendar, PERILS will publish an updated loss estimate on 1 February 2026, three months after the end of the event window. Revisions remain standard as claims mature and reporting improves.
The storm sequence followed an extended stretch of atmospheric instability in late October. The most damaging outbreak struck on 26 October, when large hail and strong winds swept through the greater Brisbane area in South East Queensland. Loss data from most impacted insurers underpins the initial estimate.
The same day, further south, a tornado caused damage across western Melbourne suburbs in Victoria. Conditions eased briefly after that system passed.
Severe thunderstorms returned on 31 October and 1 November, hitting South East Queensland again and, to a lesser extent, parts of New South Wales.
Darryl Pidcock, head of Asia Pacific and cyber at PERILS, said the Brisbane impact marked the first major severe convective storm event in South East Queensland since the December 2023 Christmas storms. He also pointed to the Halloween storms of October 2020 as a recent comparison point.
Pidcock added that PERILS is reviewing another major storm outbreak that affected Brisbane in late November.
Placed against historical data, he said the recent run of events suggests a rising frequency of large severe convective storms in South East Queensland, matching trends seen in global SCS loss data.
Event definition matters for reinsurance. In Australia, storm clauses vary and often rely on meteorological criteria or aggregation windows, commonly set at 168 hours.
PERILS follows the dominant market approach, aggregating losses into a single insurance event spanning 26 October to 1 November 2025.
PERILS operates independently, providing industry-wide exposure and event loss data for natural catastrophes. Its database, offered through PERILS CORE and PERILS EXTENDED subscriptions, supplies industry-level sums insured and event losses by CRESTA zone and line of business.
