AUSTRALIAN BUSHFIRE EXPOSURE PROBABLY LESS THAN A$50M

Although Australian insurers have said that it is too early to put a precise figure on their exposure to bushfires that have ravaged parts of New South Wales, they doubt that the claims will exceed the cost of the bushfires that hit the same state in 1994, or of the Sydney hailstorm in 1999, both of which caused losses in excess of A$50m. The fire has so far destroyed about 150 homes, compared with the loss of 400 homes during the 1994 fires. Locally based insurer NRMA said that it had received about 250 claims, but that its probable losses were not yet approaching the levels of 1994. Neil Drabsch, finance director of Australian insurer QBE, noted that his company had little domestic insurance liability in the Sydney area and that its claims would be mainly limited to business interruption and factory damage.