Extreme weather growing threat to Australian businesses in storm and fire season
Australian small businesses are being hit harder than ever by costly disruptions, with new data by leading insurance comparison site BizCover showing claims for severe weather events have almost doubled in the last three years with power outages, fires and storm damage ranking as the top threats to operations nationwide.
The data shows that severe weather events jumped from 9.6% in FY 2023 to 16.8% in FY 2025, with businesses typically claiming up to $39,000 in damages and as much as $200,000.
BizCover General Manager Brad Miller says the findings highlight the mounting pressure on businesses as extreme conditions intensify.
“Severe weather events and unexpected power outages can take a real toll on small business owners. It’s a wake-up call for businesses to assess their risk exposure and ensure they’re adequately protected against these sorts of business interruptions,” says Mr Miller.
“Even a relatively short interruption can lead to lost revenue, supply delays and costly repairs. These are the kinds of impacts some small operators often can’t absorb without the right insurance cover in place,” he adds.
“If you’re a retailer such as a butcher, a power outage can mean losing your cool room and thousands of dollars’ worth of stock in a matter of hours. A fire or flood could be even more devastating, potentially shutting down a business for weeks or months.”
The new BizCover data also found:
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From FY 2023-25, damage to buildings and contents made up 81.3% of all claims due to severe weather events with businesses typically claiming up to $53,000. While claims that came under business interruption made up 21.6%, with businesses typically claiming up to $22,000.
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Claims for accidental property damage saw Glass claims as the biggest category, making up 72.9% of all claims from FY 2023-25, while water leak damage saw more than 90% of claims under Building and Contents.
Mr Miller adds that businesses in Queensland and NSW were hit the hardest by weather events over the past three years, with Queensland seeing the biggest increase with severe weather events making up 20.6% of all claims, the second largest category behind theft.
In NSW, severe weather events made up 13.3% of all business claims and in Victoria accounted for 8.2% of claims, he says.
Latest data from the Insurance Council of Australia shows extreme weather has been responsible for a 67% increase in household and business insurance claims over the last five years.
Mr Miller urged business owners to look beyond immediate risks and consider the broader impact of disruptions beyond their control.
“Business insurance can act as financial protection against unexpected claims. Too many businesses underestimate their exposure or carry inadequate cover, leaving themselves vulnerable when disaster strikes,” he says.
Top three causes of business disruption
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Loss of power: Outages can cripple operations, whether caused by storms, grid failures, or heatwave-related strain. Reliable electricity is vital across all industries - from retail and healthcare to professional services.
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Fire: From accidental kitchen fires to electrical faults or bushfires, flames and subsequent water damage can destroy equipment and premises, sidelining businesses for months.
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Storm damage: Strong winds, hail and flash flooding can damage stock, infrastructure, and transport links — disrupting both operations and supply chains.
He warned that many small businesses insure against Public Liability but overlook key risks such as stock loss, property damage or loss of income.
“It’s not just about repairing damage. It’s often about keeping your business running.
“The right cover, including Business Interruption insurance, can help replace lost profits and support recovery after a shutdown.”
Mr Miller added, “While many business owners have seen premiums rising, BizCover can confirm that we have seen no major price increase to our product offering. One reason that business owners often put off reviewing or purchasing insurance is because they believe it’s too expensive. But 87% of BizCover customers say they have saved money by switching to BizCover.”
One in 10 Australian businesses with insurance now use BizCover to compare and purchase cover online with the platform serving more than 280,000 businesses.
About BizCover
BizCover is Australia’s no. 1 online business insurance service that simplifies comparing and buying cover, so small businesses can save time, money and get instant cover. Operating since 2008, in an industry dominated by big players, time-consuming processes, and poor service levels, BizCover disrupted the insurance market to level the playing field for small businesses.
Methodology
The analysis is based on business interruption claims submitted to BizCover from across Australia between financial year 2023 and financial year 2025.
Each claim was reviewed and categorised by sector, business type (professionals, trades & services, retail & hospitality, and other) and state. Trends were analysed according to the financial year of incident. This structured approach allows for identification of patterns in the frequency and type of business theft across Australian regions.
Manual keyword research was then applied, using a seed list of terms to scrape claim descriptions and identify the most common reasons for business interruptions based on insurance product claims.
As there were some extreme outliers in terms of claims amounts, the ‘typical low’ and ‘typical high’ were used to find a realistic average. 80% of businesses that were used in the report claimed between the typical low and typical high. This means that extreme lows and extreme highs were not counted, to avoid providing an average figure that was not reflective of the majority of claims examples.
While not a comprehensive record of all business interruption incidents in Australia, the dataset provides a strong indicator of trends across industries, states, and the kinds of interruptions facing businesses based on BizCover-insured small businesses.
