As of 13 November, the ICA said that insurers in Australia had received 450 claims related to bushfires in New South Wales and Queensland, with insured losses estimated at AU$50 million. With fires in New South Wales showing no sign of slowing down – the danger level has been raised to ‘catastrophic’, the highest possible point on Australia’s fire danger scale – it is expected that many more claims will be lodged over the coming months.

Over 150 homes have been destroyed in the fires and hundreds of schools evacuated; at the time of writing three people have died. It is the fourth time this year that the ICA has classed a bushfire outbreak as ‘catastrophic’.

Tourists who are near areas where bushfires are occurring have been advised to follow the advice of local authorities and evacuate if necessary. Travellers wishing to claim on their travel insurance will likely only be able to do so if they have Force Majeure or cancel for any reason coverage – provided that they purchased their policies before the bushfires were first announced.