Australia Insured Fire Loss Still Unknown

There is still no insured loss estimate for the bush fires in Australia that have resulted in thousands of claims and taken more than 200 lives.

According to a statement from the Insurance Council of Australia, the insurance industry has received approximately 5,450 claims in relation to the fires throughout the state of Victoria.

“Of all the claims received, approximately 10 percent are for motor vehicles and 90 percent are for building or contents,” Kerrie Kelly, chief executive of the Insurance Council, said in a statement. “There are an estimated 1,300 claims for total loss of property that have been lodged with the general insurance industry.”

The Insurance Council said a large number of claims assessors are still waiting to gain access to affected areas. The situation is slowly improving as authorities open access to the affected areas.

“As a consequence, it remains too early to place a dollar figure on the insured losses,” the Insurance Council.

A spokesman for the Insurance Council said in an e-mail that there have been a number of estimates reported but they are “not based on anything more than speculation.”

One early estimate reported by the Sydney Morning Herald put the insured loss at Australian 500 million ($340 million U.S.).

Many of the fire spots are being treated as crime scenes since arson is suspected. At least one person has been charged in connection with the blaze.