Storm claims received by IAG have passed the 20,000 mark as the total cost of the flooding in the Hunter and Central Coast regions of NSW continues to climb.

NRMA Insurance says the total number of claims received by its parent company has more than doubled since it released a figure of 9000 to the market last month.

Almost half of IAG’s claims are through CGU, which told Sunrise Exchange News on Friday it has received 9500 claims. About half of those are from its intermediary-sourced business.

NRMA Insurance CEO David Issa was reported last week as saying about 20-30% of claims have been assessed so far.

IAG’s losses from the flooding will not exceed $169 million, at which point reinsurance is triggered.

Suncorp CEO John Mulcahy says his group’s exposure is “highly likely” to reach $160 million.

“The actual cost of the storms will not be known for some time but, again, I emphasise that the group’s reinsurance cover will limit our loss to a maximum $160 million,” he said.

“Suncorp, as well as the wider industry, understands that supporting customers in the aftermath of events such as the NSW storms is fundamental to what we do as insurers.

“We are mindful, though, that we are still in the initial stages of the recovery process and there is much work still to do to help customers recover.”

The Insurance Council of Australia says all insurers have received 58,000 claims totalling $550 million to date.