NU Online News Service, Feb. 14, 3:03 p.m.EST

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) said recent flooding inthe state of Queensland has resulted in about 43,755 claims and aninsured loss estimate of $2 billion.

The claims count increased as commercial and mining claims cometo light, the ICA said.

At last count at the end of January, the ICA gave an insured loss estimate of $1.5billion.

Insurers have already paid about $200 million to policyholdersin Queensland.

Flooding in Victoria State generated nearly 6,000 claims so farand insured losses of about $67 million.

Independent reinsurance brokerage firm Holborn said losses forreinsurers in the first quarter will eclipse $4 billion. Thebrokerage estimates losses and expenses of between $1.5 billion and$3 billion due to Cyclone Yasi, which struck Queensland in early February.

Catastrophe modeler AIR Worldwide said insured losses from Yasi will be between $354 million and $1.5 billion.The prediction includes only insured physical damage to onshoreproperty and business interruption.

Queensland-based RACQ Insurance said it has received more than5,600 claims from flooding in December and January and 3,500 moreclaims from victims of Cyclone Yasi.

Reports in Australia indicate a growing dissatisfaction withclaims processing. RACQ Insurance answered by saying it has startedto pay claims for customers in the Toowoomba and Upper LockyerValley areas because hydrology investigations there are done.However, the insurer's chief executive, Bradley Heath, said thereis “enormous pressure” in handling claims because there are notenough hydrologists and assessors.