A database that provides information on notable non-catastrophe commercial property losses has been made available to help underwriters and brokers.

The Australian Commercial Property Loss Database’s entries for May includes losses involving tobacconists in Victoria, a large panel beater premises fire in Queensland, and blazes at a flour mill, laundromat and e-bike rental shop in NSW.

Database founder Adam Matteson says non-catastrophe events make up about 40-50% of losses in the Australian commercial property market but there is little data available publicly on where and why they are happening.

He says the database has been a personal initiative since 2014, with support from a number of contacts, and has built on previous efforts. Much of the data is scraped from public information sources and deidentified private sources, and news articles are available on most.

“Data has tended to be consumed by actuaries, and in aggregated format or pure numbers. The data we obtain helps tell the story of how and why the losses are happening,” he tells insuranceNEWS.com.au.

Mr Matteson is Howden Re’s regional manager for underwriting agency, advisory and broking, and has previously worked for Munich Re, Lloyd’s and Suncorp.

He says the data can enrich a range of conversations with agencies and carriers, and broking contacts are also examining it. 

A link to the Insurance Council of Australia catastrophe database is provided on the site.

Find the database here.