PERTH FIRES LOSS ESTIMATED AT A$60M

The insured bill from the fires that hit Perth in Western Australia this month might be more than A$60m ($47.7m). The estimate was provided by the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), which said there have so far been more than 730 claims from the fires. The area around Perth was hit by numerous wildfires between February 1 and 7, before rainfall and firefighters were able to bring the blazes under control. Hundreds of people were evacuated. The ICA declared the bushfires to be an insurance catastrophe. The ICA’s initial estimate of the losses was more than A$40m, but this was expected to rise as residents returned to their properties and assessed the damage.