With about 1,500 claims from Thais, Insurance Australia Group (IAG) is expected to pay out $150 million in flood claims following the recent inundation of Thailand.

IAG Chief Executive Mike Wilkins said on Thursday that claim assessments would take several weeks to complete as the water level slowly recedes. It is the worst flood to hit the southeast Asian country in 50 years, which killed many Thais and destroyed thousands of businesses and residences.

The Thai floods were the first major natural calamity to hit IAG this financial year. However, Deutsche Bank, in a note to clients, said it does not expect the size of claims in Thailand to have a major impact on IAG's earnings in 2011 since the Australian insurer has set aside $580 million for natural calamity claims.

IAG runs two insurance brands in Thailand - Safety and NZI Safety. Safety mainly provides insurance cover for motors and represents 80 per cent of IAG's gross premium in Thailand. NZI Safety focuses on commercial insurance.

The company's business in Asia, which includes also Malaysia and India, contributed almost 4 per cent of IAG's gross written premium in the 2010-11 financial year.