Catastrophe data aggregator PERILS has published its second industry loss estimate for the Victoria Bushfires which took place during the period of January 7th to 13th, 2026, placing the insurance market loss at AU$810 million.Based on data gathered from the majority of impacted insurers, PERILS’ loss estimate, which covers the property and motor hull lines of business,  In January 2026, over 30 significant bushfires occurred across the state of Victoria in south-eastern Australia consuming approximately 400,000 hectares of land.These bushfires destroyed 900 buildings, which included 330 homes, and impacted infrastructure with over 20,000 livestock lost, and tragically one fatality.The events were also deemed the most destructive bushfire outbreak since the Black Saturday bushfires of February 2009.

PERILS has confirmed that an updated estimate of the insurance market loss from the bushfires will be published on July 13th, 2026, six months after the event end date.Darryl Pidcock, Head of Asia Pacific at PERILS, commented: “Whilst this event is less severe than the ‘Black Summer’ fires of 2019/20, it is the first major bushfire event for the insurance industry in the last six years.During this period, we have observed major Cat losses caused primarily by ‘wet’ events such as cyclones, floods and severe convective storms.

“There has been considerable research since the Black Summer fires into the impacts of major fires with subsequent efforts by the industry and Government to improve awareness and risk mitigation of rural properties.This event differed from the 2019-20 fires as it occurred primarily in grassland areas, fueled by extremely dry grasses, intense winds with fires moving at up to 25 kmph at their peak.” Pidcock added: “Our next loss report is due on 13 July 2026 and will provide more detailed data including post code and coverage type to enable a better understanding of the damage caused and support the ongoing development of bushfire models.”.All of our Artemis Live insurance-linked securities (ILS), catastrophe bonds and reinsurance can be accessed online.

Our can be subscribed to using the typical podcast services providers, including Apple, Google, Spotify and more.