The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has declared a catastrophe for hailstorms that have caused losses of more than $110 million in southeast Queensland at the weekend.

More than 8500 claims have been lodged, with about 60% for damage to motor vehicles and 40% for damage to houses, mainly to roofs, skylights, awnings, windows and solar panels. Interior damage also affected a significant proportion of homes.

The catastrophe declaration is the first for the 2020/21 natural disaster season and comes after the previous season was the worst on record, with more than $5.9 billion in claims from bushfires, storms, hail and floods.

The storms struck late Saturday, causing most damage in suburbs including Springfield, Rosewood, Greenbank and Boronia Heights. The hail also followed severe weather that had hit Queensland during the previous week.

A hailstorm that affected the region last November caused losses of $504 million, while a Rockhampton hailstorm in April caused $503 million in insured damage, ICA says. A 2014 Brisbane hailstorm caused more than $1.5 billion in claims.

Residents were also today warned about “disaster chasers” who offer urgent inspections or repairs for cash, but who may leave work poorly done or not completed and who may not have proper qualifications.

ICA says they may also promise an insurance company will pay for the work, but policies will usually not pay for unnecessary or cosmetic repairs and customers may be left with an inflated bill or a large fee or commission.

“Disaster chasers are a menace and are becoming bolder,” ICA CEO Andrew Hall said. “Identifying disaster chasers and reporting them to the relevant authorities will help bring them to account.”

RACQ says the weekend event was the worst hailstorm the state had experienced since the destruction caused by the 2014 event.

The insurer, which has received almost 3000 claims from Saturday’s event, has in the past year reinstated an exclusion over cosmetic damage caused by day-to-day weather elements amid concern over disaster chasers.

“We’re seeing more and more claims being prompted by disaster chasers, that are not linked to damage caused by a significant weather event, or that the ‘damage’ is what we’d consider normal wear and tear,” General Executive Insurance Tracy Green told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“We have to address this problem. The alternative to continuing to provide cover as it stood prior to this change is significant increases in premiums adding further to affordability stress.”