The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) says a proposed flood definition to be released tomorrow will not be a silver bullet answer to flood insurance.

insuranceNEWS.com.au believes a consultation paper will be released tomorrow in Ipswich by Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten.

ICA CEO Rob Whelan told a Vero webcast forum last week that the definition has “become a bit of a holy grail”.

He says some people have misconceptions that the definition will fix all the problems associated with flood cover.

“One of the points of contention initially was that by creating a common definition, it would actually mean mandatory flood cover – it won’t,” Mr Whelan said.

“[The definition] just allows insurers to either underwrite the risk or not. It’s clear as to what risk they are underwriting or not. It doesn’t mean by having a definition you have mandatory flood cover.”

Mr Whelan says once the definition is released there will be a period of consultation with consumer groups and industry stakeholders.

Last week ICA also revealed the latest figures on recent Australian catastrophes, showing total insured losses of more than $3.6 billion.

Insured losses are mounting, with an estimated $2.31 billion and 49,400 claims from the Queensland floods. Cyclone Yasi’s 59,990 claims now amount to more than $868 million.

An ICA spokesman says $625 million has already been paid for the two events. She says payments for the Queensland disasters have averaged of $15 million a day since February 24.

“This is a considerable financial injection to the Queensland community and the rebuild,” she said.

In Victoria, claims have reached $86 million for floods and a further $299 million for storms.

Perth bushfire claims are continuing to mount, with 410 claims totalling more than $35 million.