Insurers say they do not expect significant claims from Cyclone Jasper, which crossed the Queensland coast near Port Douglas on Wednesday as a category two storm. 

Jasper has since eased to a tropical low, and insurance claims numbers have so far been benign with Sure Insurance receiving around 80 and RACQ Insurance 32 by mid-morning today.  

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) says it is still closely monitoring the situation in North Queensland and members are ready to respond to Jasper claims. 

“At this stage claim numbers are low and we do not anticipate a large claim volume event, however this may be subject to change as conditions begin to improve in the coming days and weeks,” an ICA spokesperson told insuranceNEWS.com.au. 

RACQ says claims numbers are expected to increase in the coming days as the rain eases and power returns, though based on the current situation it is “not expecting a significant number of claims.”  

Those lodged so far were mostly related to food spoilage, leaking roofs and wind damage, and the Cairns RACQ store has reopened and returned to normal trading hours. 

Regional and northern Queensland home insurance specialist Sure says the majority of its claims are for minor damage to homes from tree impacts and water entry into homes, as well as a small number of claims for food spoilage. 

“We have not as yet received any claims for major structural damage,” a spokesman said. “Sure Insurance has had expert assessing staff and senior claims decision makers on the ground in Cairns since before Jasper hit to ensure immediate assistance to affected customers.” 

Bureau of Meteorology Senior Meteorologist Angus Hines says the slowness of Jasper is bringing constant rain, and flood warnings remain place. 

“Over the past 24 hours, we've seen the movement of Jasper really slow down across the Cape York Peninsula almost grinding to a halt somewhere over the centre of the peninsula. Because things are moving so slowly, these areas along the coast have continued to get heavy rainfall,” Mr Hines said. 

Heavy rainfall is set to continue in a broad region of North Queensland, generally from Port Douglas northwards, although further spells of wet weather are anticipated in Cairns, Innisfail, or further south today and tomorrow, he said.

A number of weather stations received more than 400mm of rain in 48 hours, and the Bureau expects more rain as Jasper slowly continues its track westwards.

“Places which have received two days of non-stop rainfall are going to get some further wet weather and we've maintained a severe weather warning for those places that are likely to be most affected,” Mr Hines said.  

A major flood warning remains for the Daintree River and a number of other rivers through northeast Queensland at minor or moderate flood warning.  

“This is subject to change. We could see flooding through any of these river basins over the course of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so it is still a dynamic and evolving situation with saturated places still expecting more rainfall,” Mr Hines said. 

The Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation had declared an event for Jasper, meaning that the Cyclone Reinsurance Pool would cover damage and related flooding for claims lodged with insurers that have joined the scheme.