Zurich-based catastrophe data company Perils has shaved its insured loss estimate for last year's NSW and Queensland flooding catastrophe to $688 million.

The fourth and final estimate from Perils compares with its $751 million estimate made in September.

The losses cover property and motor lines of business, and are based on data collected from most of the Australian insurance market. The total industry loss was made up mostly of personal lines property losses (88%), while motor losses represented 12%.

The March 18-24 disaster affected mainly NSW’s Mid North Coast and the Hunter and Greater Sydney regions, and adjacent parts of southeast Queensland and eastern Victoria were also affected by storm and flood damage.

The extreme period of rainfall resulted in major river and surface water flooding and the peak exceeded historical records.

The event was caused by a blocking high pressure system in the Tasman Sea and a low-pressure system off Australia’s northwest which fed large volumes of moist tropical air into eastern Australia.

Perils says it will report on the recent multi-billion-dollar flood and storm event that struck Queensland and NSW shortly.

“As insurers continue to support communities dealing with recent flood losses in addition to last year’s events, our hope is that our industry loss and exposure data can positively contribute to their efforts,” Head of Perils Asia-Pacific Darryl Pidcock said.