Suncorp natural hazard claims costs for the first four months of the financial year have reached an estimated $470-530 million, as flooding continues to affect NSW and northern Victoria.

Five declared natural hazard events have taken place across Australia and New Zealand since the start of July, triggering more than 13,000 claims as at October 31, the company said today.

The cost of the events to Suncorp is expected to be in the range of $350-410 million, while the combined total of smaller natural hazard attritional claims is estimated at $120 million.

Suncorp CEO Steve Johnston says the La Nina weather pattern has seen some areas of Victoria record their worst flooding in more than 100 years and the event has seen a higher proportion of large losses given the level of inundation.

“Our Customer Support Teams and assessors have been deployed to the hardest-hit areas of Maribyrnong, Rochester and Shepparton to provide on-the-ground support to our impacted customers,” Mr Johnston said.

“We’ve received approximately 4600 claims off the back of these events in October and continue to urge those that can do so to lodge their claim online so we can get the recovery process underway as quickly as possible.”

Suncorp’s financial year natural hazard allowance for is $1.16 billion, divided equally between the first and second halves.

Flooding is continuing in regional NSW and northern Victoria, with the Bureau of Meteorology issuing numerous warnings today, including for the Murray, Edward, Macquarie, Lachlan, Murrumbidgee and Darling Rivers. A number of the warnings advise of peaks in the coming days and weeks as waters move through catchments.

In NSW major flooding is expected to continue today at Forbes, which saw the Lachlan River peak at 10.67 metres around midday Saturday, just below the June 1952 flood level.

The Bureau of Meteorology says October rainfall was the highest on record for large parts of the Murray-Darling Basin in NSW and Victoria, while for Australia overall it was the second-highest.

The weather events listed by Suncorp for the first four months are a Sydney east coast low in July, southern Australia winds and storms in August, a New Zealand North Island and top of the South Island storm in August, Victoria rain and floods last month and the NSW/Victoria rain and floods.

Suncorp’s preliminary cost ranges are based on lodgement patterns and historical average claims costs.