Wild weather that swept across SA, Victoria and Tasmania last week has resulted in almost 60,000 claims so far.

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) says to date 59,237 claims have been lodged across the three states, but it is yet to put a dollar value on damage from the catastrophe.

Two thirds of SA claims relate to motor insurance, after severe hailstorms, while 90% of claims in wind-hit Victoria are for home insurance.

ICA says insurance disaster responders are entering SA from today to assist with claims management. It says it worked with the state government to facilitate the move, but it took more than a week to finalise arrangements.

The 21 specialists include assessors, loss adjusters and claims specialists. ICA says the deployment of insurance disaster responders from interstate is necessary because there are not enough local claims specialists or trades to meet the needs of those impacted.

ICA has written to national and state leaders calling for a nationally consistent approach to the deployment of insurance disaster responders while some hard borders remain across the country.

“Families, businesses, and communities rely on insurance disaster responders from interstate in the aftermath of natural disasters – without them, recovery is delayed with significant personal, social, and economic impacts,” ICA CEO Andrew Hall said.

“Modelling undertaken for the Insurance Council found that if an event the size of 2017’s Cyclone Debbie occurred now and insurers were delayed by border restrictions by seven days, a total economic shortfall of $687 million would result over the eight weeks following the event.

“The ICA appreciates the efforts of the SA Government, Health and Police to enable the deployment of insurance disaster responders to support the recovery of storm-impacted South Australians.

“However, the fact that it has taken more than a week to obtain this approval shows the urgent need for a nationally consistent approach that allows insurers to meet the needs of customers faster.”