Event Background
On Wednesday 27 December 2023, the Insurance Council of Australia declared a 'significant event' for regions of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria impacted by severe storms since 23 December 2023.
From Boxing Day onwards, home and motor claims numbers increased with initial indications of varied severity across different areas. With more extreme weather forecast, insurers and the ICA prioritised response and safety messages to impacted communities.
In the subsequent days, ongoing extreme weather and strong winds continued, particularly around the Gold Coast and Scenic Rim area. As the immense scale and destructive nature of these storms correlated with increasing claims numbers, the ICA escalated its significant event declaration to an Insurance Catastrophe on 29 December 2023.
As the extensive impact of ongoing extreme weather over the new year period continued, the ICA extended its Insurance Catastrophe declaration, for the recent storms, rain and flooding to 3 January 2024. Since this time, this event has been known as 'Cat 233: Christmas and New Year Storms'.
