Extreme weather events continue to play a major part in vehicle insurance claims with many policy holders believing things will get worse, a report finds.
The NRMA Wild Weather Tracker report found the autumn storms and flooding hit Queensland and NSW hardest, with almost a quarter of Queenslanders experiencing damage to their house or car during the floods and extreme weather.
While past years have delivered New Year and summer storms often with severe hailstorms damaging vehicles, autumn is traditionally the mildest season.
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But the report details 1,387 severe weather motor claims during autumn.
Although this was only two percent of all motor claims, it amounted to a larger portion in Qld where there were 352 severe weather motor claims and 980 severe weather motor claims in NSW.
This makes it seasonally the worst since 2022 as Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred hit communities in South East Queensland and Northern NSW in the first days of autumn, resulting in widespread flooding.
in the Mid North Coast and Hunter regions of NSW experienced an extremely widespread flooding event at the end of the season.
Both events were classified as an ‘insurance catastrophe’ by the Insurance Council of Australia due to the “breadth and severity of damage caused to impacted communities”.
Hailstorms
The report also predicts storms with large to giant hail are already becoming more frequent in the south and east of Australia with a predicted southerly shift in the areas at risk of hail in a warmer climate.
Cities like Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, and Melbourne, as well as inland regions from the Hunter to eastern Victoria, are possibly seeing an increased risk.
Queensland has been particularly hit hard this year with the state equalling the total number of claims due to wild weather damage received in all of 2024 in just the first 66 days of 2025.
Getting Worse
The report finds that while many people took preparatory action, almost three quarters were worried that natural disasters, such as storms, floods and bushfires are becoming more frequent and severe.
It found that 70 per cent expect wild weather to become more severe and frequent in the future.
But a high number 79 per cent feel they have a good understanding of the severe weather risks in their local area and 70 per cent know what steps they need to take to prepare for a severe weather emergency.
Milder Winter
NRMA Insurance Meteorologist and Senior Weather Risk Analyst Kathryn Turner said this winter is expected to be unusually warm, with both day and night-time temperatures to remain above average.