Published Articles
Jump to:
2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007
Feature Series Articles
|
| '12 |
Combating Weather-Related Claims Fraud
The severe winter weather in the United States last winter may have caused more than $1 billion in insured losses, putting 2011 on a path toward equaling, or even surpassing, the $2.6 billion in winter-related insurance claims generated nationwide in 2010, according to the Insurance Information Institute.
|
| '11 |
Catastrophe Loss Development Analysis
In the wake of a large catastrophe — a hurricane, tornado, or earthquake, for example — insurers and reinsurers have a big question to grapple with: Management, regulators, and investors all want to know, What will the cost to the company be? But hard information is not readily available on primary companies' actual claims and may not be available for months or longer. For reinsurers, the claim information that ultimately determines their costs is even less accessible.
Saving Community Fire Stations during a Time of Economic Change
As economic issues continue to reverberate across the country, municipal leaders face tough decisions regarding potential cuts to fire department staff or, in some cases, temporarily or permanently closing a community fire station. Unfortunately, the consequences of such moves can compromise the ability of fire stations to respond efficiently and effectively to emergencies.
New Technologies: Proactive Weather Claims Handling
Can we control the weather? Of course not. But new data sources, weather analytics, and delivery options can support improved claims-handling practices for both auto and property writers. And that’s good news for claims departments.
Tackling the Real Wind Peril
Historically, fire has been a leading cause of commercial property damage losses. Along with fire, hurricanes and tornadoes — specifically the wind peril — are a growing concern. The active 2005 hurricane season brought that sharply into focus, with 27 named storms and 14 hurricanes (4 of which reached Category 5 intensity, including Wilma, the strongest Atlantic hurricane on record). Damage due to wind has been growing rapidly as a percent of overall commercial property losses.
Benchmarking Analytics for More Reliable Exposure Data and Catastrophe Modeling
Every day, companies deploy data and analytics for decisions on underwriting, reinsurance purchasing, new growth opportunities, and catastrophe risk management. Basing those decisions on data that is both complete and of high quality is a key component of a risk management strategy. For companies concerned with catastrophe risk management in particular, it is essential for the underlying exposure data to be reliable. Without this, catastrophe modeling results may be skewed.
Preparing for the Unexpected: Reliable claims and cost data help insurers adapt to changing economic climate
In many ways, 2010 didn't turn out quite the way experts predicted — or hoped. Growth in the economy didn't occur at the expected rate, and the housing market continued to falter. While construction costs in most areas of the United States declined, many homeowners are still coming to terms with the fact that the cost to rebuild a home may be higher than its market value.
Probable Maximum Loss Considerations in Commercial Fire Insurance Underwriting: An ISO Perspective
Fire is generally considered the most critical hazard in the underwriting process, whether covered separately or as part of a package. In comparing the potential loss among buildings and in evaluating a single building, underwriters consider the Probable Maximum Loss (PML). The most common definition of PML — and the definition ISO adopts for commercial fire purposes — is an estimate of the largest loss a building or a business in the building is likely to suffer because of a single fire, assuming proper functioning of the existing mitigation features (sprinklers, local fire department response, etc.).
Verisk Helps Strengthen Protection against Natural Disasters as a Founder of the IBHS
Verisk Analytics is among the founders of the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety's (IBHS) new multi-peril research center, which recently opened in Chester County, South Carolina. Capable of recreating several types of windstorms, hailstorms, hurricanes, and wildfires in a controlled environment, the IBHS lab can accommodate full-scale one- and two-story residential and commercial structures in its cavernous test chamber.
2010: The Year in Review
The year 2010 is memorable for two reasons: the large number of catastrophes declared by PCS® and the absence of a major landfalling tropical system, even though the season was the third most active on record. PCS declared 33 catastrophes in 2010. The 2010 catastrophes in the United States also represent about one-third of all insured catastrophes worldwide. The insured loss from U.S. catastrophes last year is approximately $13 billion.
Is the Economy Threatening Building-Code Effectiveness?
There's been a decade of steady progress toward implementing a single national model building code in all communities across the country. Even though the pace of new construction has slowed significantly, economic issues still threaten code-adoption and enforcement progress in many areas of the country. Community resources have become overextended, forcing difficult decisions by local officials. |
| '10 |
Where There's Smoke, There's Fire... But Is There a Fire Station?
When a structure fire occurs, minutes count. Without intervention, a fire can intensify rapidly, and the risk of increased property damage and danger to people can unfold dramatically. In an uncontrolled environment, rapid fire progression can lead to a dangerous condition known as flashover — when all contents of a room become fully engulfed in flames. Immediate fire station deployment to thwart flash over is a key factor in a community's fire-protection resource plan — to minimize the risk to occupants, property, and firefighters.
Accuracy Matters: Gaining Perspective on Risk Using GIS
Insurance companies require statistically sound, accurate, and validated rating data to make well-informed business decisions — and spatial accuracy matters. Geographic information systems (GIS) are a useful and powerful tool for helping insurers gain perspective on and manage the risks and hazards that impact their books of business.
Leveraging GIS Analytics for Improved Catastrophe Risk Management
In today's data-driven environment, leading insurance companies are making the capture and use of address-level location information a top priority. Once a location is established, the next step is capturing as much information as possible about that property. Location information is essential for assessing catastrophe risk and for effective catastrophe modeling.
The New ABCs of GIS
We sat down with Bill Raichle, vice president, Risk Decision Services ISO, to share his thoughts on GIS benefits, advancements, and future uses. He also discussed his ideas on how insurers can use GIS to develop analytics and predictive models, and what it takes to build and implement a GIS in an insurer environment. Read about where Bill thinks insurers are heading with GIS technology in the next five years.
Geographic Information Systems Provide High-Value Technology for Risk Management
Property/casualty insurers have realized substantial value from geographic information systems since the mid-1990s. Most insurers now use GIS for more precise underwriting and rating at the point of sale. GIS helps insurers assign rating territories and public protection and building code effectiveness classifications. It also aids in assessing risk based on distance to coasts, wildfire exposure, and flood zone determination.
 Ten Things a Commercial Underwriter Needs to Know
When you're underwriting or rating a commercial property, there are many important factors to consider. ISO has developed its own "top ten" list to ensure the consistent analysis of properties we survey, help you mitigate hazards and reduce deficiencies, and improve your bottom line..
Tracking Critical Industry Trends
During the past few years, changes in construction rates, claim trends, and property market values have experienced shifts that require property insurance professionals to reevaluate long-standing assumptions about calculated risk levels. Read how access to reliable costs of labor, material, and equipment, as well as real-time information on industry trends can help insurers effectively navigate the challenging economy.
Best Practices for Managing Catastrophe Risk
Natural catastrophes such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and winter storms can jeopardize the financial well-being of an otherwise stable, profitable company. Catastrophe models are tools that help risk managers effectively assess catastrophe risk and make informed risk management decisions. By incorporating the results of catastrophe models, best practices can enable risk managers to take greater control of the risk transfer process and make the best and most cost-effective decisions for their enterprises.
Understanding the Impact of the Current Economy on Property/Casualty Risk
The U.S. economy has been in a recession, and the impact, on both individuals and business, continues to spread. All bands of the risk management spectrum — personal and commercial, property and casualty, large and small — are affected. Read about how the current economic situation affects the risks we assume.
Prefill Provides Better Service, Lowers Operational Expenses, and Improves Premium Accuracy
It's no secret that insurance is an intensely competitive business. The property/casualty industry spends more than $4 billion annually in clever advertising campaigns vying for consumers seeking lower rates, better coverage, or better service. Learn about how you can streamline the quote process to lower operational expenses and improve premium accuracy.
Back to Basics: Knowing the Risk
In this challenging time of financial volatility and market uncertainty, the need is critical for property/casualty insurers to have property underwriting units lower their loss experience and generate underwriting profit. To achieve that goal, insurers need to base risk selection and pricing on sound underwriting principles and ERM while also incorporating quality data and analysis. Read about the strategies and techniques insurers can use to "know the risk."
Mortgage Fraud: Hidden Dangers for Property/Casualty Insurers
As residential foreclosures have risen over the past few years to unprecedented levels, the financial fallout has been staggering. Learn how fraud can adversely affect property/casualty insurers in unforeseen ways, leaving them exposed to unexpectedly high claims levels and mispriced risk.
The 2009 Atlantic Hurricane Season in Perspective
November 30, 2009 marked the official end of the Atlantic hurricane season. With nine named storms, including three hurricanes, and no U.S. landfalling hurricanes, this season was the second quietest since 1995. Read AIR Worldwide's detailed analysis. |
| '09 |
Dealing with Postcatastrophe Fraud
In the face of the financial crisis now affecting the United States, the industry expects fraudulent claim activity to increase. Read about how insurers can recognize and manage fraudulent claims in the postcatastrophe environment.
LOCATION Analyst: A GIS Like No Other
Insurers are looking for ways to spatially explore and analyze vast amounts of policy and claims data so they can make intelligent risk-management decisions. Learn about ISO's new GIS risk-management tool to help you analyze your books of business for underwriting, ratemaking, catastrophe assessment and response, customer service and retention, and hazard mitigation.
The Value of COPE Information for Insurers
How does the building you're insuring compare with similar ones? Are there hazards at the property? What fire safeguards exist? Read about how ISO's databases of information on construction, occupancy, public and private fire protection, and exposure (COPE) help you make the right business decisions.
Rising Foreclosure Rates Produce Greater Risks for Insurers
The housing bubble burst in 2007, and since then the housing market has been in a crisis of historic proportions. In 2008, 2.3 million properties were in foreclosure, an 81 percent increase over 2007. Read about the risks insurers face during the foreclosure process and how they can mitigate those risks.
It Takes a Village: Effects of Community Attributes on Insured Loss
There are many individual attributes with varying degrees of positive or negative effects that combine together into an overall risk equation — called the "village effect." Read about the relationship between community attributes, such as firefighting, flood mitigation, and building-code enforcement, and insured loss frequency and severity.
A Closer Integration of Catastrophe Risk Management and ERM
As enterprise risk management (ERM) continues to gain prominence in the insurance industry, players of all sizes and in all market segments are either launching ERM initiatives or refining current practices. Learn how insurers are incorporating ERM and cat risk management practices into their business — to achieve more stable financial results.
Managing Cat Risks More Effectively
In recent years, hurricanes and tornadoes — along with earthquakes, windstorms, wildfires, and flooding — have caused record losses for insurance companies and for society as a whole. Read about ways insurers are assessing and managing risk to help reduce losses.
Coping with Claim Surge
The disastrous results of hurricanes like Katrina and Ike, as well as other catastrophes, punctuate the need for insurers to rethink their approach to claims processing. Read about some of the ways insurers are expediting the process.
High-Quality Exposure Data is the Key to Effective Catastrophe Risk Management
High-quality exposure data is essential for effective catastrophe risk management, improved underwriting, and reinsurance decisions. Learn what insurers can do to improve exposure data quality and enhance their catastrophe models.
ISO's Public Protection Classification (PPC™) Program: There's No Comparison
ISO conducts on-site assessments of and collects information for more than 46,000 fire protection areas across the United States. Read our interview to get a behind-the-scenes look at PPC and the underlying data that goes into it.
Improved Building Codes Can Reduce Damage from Natural Disasters — and Lower Insurance Costs
Mitigation measures are effective in reducing building damage and economic losses. Learn how municipalities who are committed to building-code enforcement demonstrate better loss experience when a catastrophe strikes.
The Evolving Impact of Green Building
Consumers looking to build or remodel are finding more and more reasons to go green. Read about the effects of green building on property insurers and building owners, and the impact on claims costs and underwriting. |
|
