AXA Climate, the specialist parametric risk transfer division of AXA, has announced the launch of a new parametric coverage that aims to protect businesses from hail losses.
The product, called Hail Protection, is reportedly the first of its kind and has already been rolled out as a pilot product in Colorado, where demand has been particularly high.
AXA Climate, which was recently rebranded from AXA Global Parametrics, plans to deliver the product in partnership with specialist auto dealer insurance provider JBR Underwriters.
Car dealerships have been hit especially hard by active U.S hail seasons in recent years, which have caused the price of hail deductibles and premiums to go up and resulted in inventory shortages, inability to discount cars, and claim payment delays.
Once an auto dealership has the Hail Protection coverage in place, payouts are calculated based on a parametric trigger that uses the maximum hail size measured during a storms.
This is possible due to a confidential proprietary technology that measure hail characteristics, AXA Climate explained.
“We studied in depth the relationship between hail and resulting damages to create a solution that works for our clients,” added Antoine Denoix, CEO of AXA Climate.
“Hail modeling has always been a difficult challenge for insurers,” he continued. “The precision data we use allows us to more accurately understand and control the risk from an insurance perspective.”
JBR Underwriters will work alongside independent insurance agents to distribute the parametric solution direct to customers.
“I’m excited that we are bringing the innovative creativity of AXA Climate to address the challenges of weather risks for our auto dealership and property clients,” said Brian Gries, President of JBR Underwriters.
“JBR is a company that places a premium on simple and elegant insurance solutions for our customer and agent needs. This partnership with AXA Climate provides that solution.”
