Weather network and analytics firm, Understory, has launched a new solution that provides auto-generated assessments following hail events to help insurers and reinsurers better understand policyholder behaviour post-storm, called Weather Intelligence Storm Estimates (WISE).
As well as improving re/insurers’ understanding of policyholder post-storm behaviour, WISE is also designed to help market participants better understand claims submission timing and adjuster experience requirements for assessing damage.
In the aftermath of a hail event, a WISE assessment is automatically sent out to clients to provide an estimate of both claims volume and total indemnity. The assessment is backed by damage analytics that is coupled with historical claim information, enabling WISE’s machine learning model to predict human behaviour in relation to claim submission in areas where damage does, and does not occur.
In an announcement on the launch of WISE, Understory explains that the planning metrics include the following:
Policyholder behavior – Claiming volume for areas of likely property damage, damage-related insight based on property characteristics and the ability to recognize potential fraud; Adjuster experience – Adjuster workforce requirements relative to adjuster experience in storm aftermath; and Submission timing – Claims volume expected through First Notice of Loss each week following an event.
Understory Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Alex Kubicek, commented: “Property and casualty carriers need to know, quantifiably, what happened in the immediate aftermath of any weather event. Most times, insurance companies don’t know the extent of the damage until policyholders start calling in. Then it can take weeks to months to understand an approximate claim volume. WISE lets you know exactly how an event is going to unfold immediately after the weather clears with a 95 percent accuracy rate.”
Understory has 500 stations deployed over five major metropolitan areas, and has worked with the insurance sector to analyse more than 1.5 million policyholders and 100,000 claims. By the end of 2019, the firm aims to increase its sensor network to 5,000 sensors.
