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Storms that produce large hailstones (greater than 2cm in diameter) occur often in Australia, most commonly in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.
In 1999, Australia experienced
one of the worst hailstorms in the world. The storm single-handedly damaged 24,000 homes and 70,000 automobiles, creating an insured loss of $1.04 billion (U.S. dollars). The hailstones in the April 4, 1999 hailstorm were one of the largest ever recorded measuring 3.5 inches in diameter.
In 2011,
another catastrophic hailstorm hit Melbourne resulting in extensive property damage. Within a year of the 2011 storm, Australia endured subsequent natural disasters, and the damage wrought by this series of events spurred
double-digit premium rises by some of the largest Australian insurers.
Similarly, a series of severe hailstorms
devastated Australian farms in November 2016, resulting in the filing of over 28,000 insurance claims, totaling $193 million.
Most Australian insurers
provide coverage for weather-related damage if it falls into one of two categories—thunderstorms (hail, flash flooding, wind, lightning) or land gales (gale-force winds that occur over land). Despite the fact that coverage is generally afforded for hail-caused damage, Australia has experienced an
unprecedented rise in fraudulent insurance claims.