Insurers have received thousands of claims from property owners after gale-force winds and flooding swept across southeast Australia.

IAG says that from August 26 to this morning, it received 2730 claims related to severe weather in Victoria, NSW, the ACT and Tasmania.

“We encourage anyone whose property, vehicle or business has been impacted by the severe weather to lodge their claims online or over the phone so we can provide immediate assistance, including emergency make-safe repairs, temporary accommodation if required and emergency financial assistance,” a spokesperson said.

“We have extra claims personnel standing by to lodge claims and, where it’s safe to do so, our assessors and partner builders are on the ground supporting impacted customers.”

Suncorp said this morning it had received more than 1500 home and motor claims arising from storms and flooding in Victoria and Tasmania over the past couple of days.

“Areas around Melbourne ... saw the brunt of the impact, while in Tasmania’s north, Launceston and Devonport were significantly impacted, with power outages causing disruption across both states,” EGM of home claims customers Alli Smith said.

The claims breakdown includes more than 1400 home and 170 motor claims.

Suncorp says emergency cash payments and claims support for customers in need have been in place since yesterday, with claims teams deploying to affected regions when safe to do so.

Allianz said today it had received 430 claims from Victoria, 50 from NSW and 20 from SA.

The Victorian State Emergency Service received more than 4400 requests for help from 7pm on Sunday to yesterday afternoon as winds peaked during the night. A 141km/h gust was recorded at Fawkner Beacon at the northern end of Port Phillip Bay and wind speeds reached more than 110km/h at St Kilda harbour. Tens of thousands of homes remained without power this morning.

The Bureau of Meteorology says parts of western Tasmania have recorded 200mm-300mm of rainfall over the past seven days, with 40mm-100mm through central and eastern areas. Most rivers peaked in the past day or two, but the state will probably continue to see flood impacts this week.

The NSW SES said almost 1000 incidents were recorded after damaging wind yesterday brought down trees and powerlines, and damaged buildings. The worst-hit area was Campbelltown, followed by Camden.

A team of 29 SES volunteers from the state was deployed to Victoria late last night to help with the clean-up in and around Melbourne.

From Insurance News magazine: As the US grapples with unprecedented fire, flood and storm risks, what lessons can Australian insurers learn?