Willis Re, the reinsurance arm of global brokerage Willis Towers Watson (WTW), has launched a new fully probabilistic Indonesia Flood model, developed in collaboration with the Willis Research Network (WRN) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI).
Willis Re’s new Indonesia Flood model provides a comprehensive and detailed assessment of flood risk in the country, including industrial states in West Java which are susceptible to frequent flood events.
This fully probabilistic model is based on 42,000 events covering major river catchments in Indonesia, and has been developed leveraging high resolution hydrological models, with the latest and most relevant science, which includes a 37 year-record of global rainfall observations and local rain data.
Willis Re explains that the flood model validates well against major floods including the events of 2007 and 2020, and is calibrated using an up-to-date proprietary country-wide industrial exposure database, using re/insurance market loss claims.
Tai Hui Yen, Head of Analytics, Asia Pacific, Willis Re, commented: “Taking advantage of our in-house expertise and our broader academic partners in the WRN, we have developed a leading-edge flood risk analysis capability. We are integrating the tool with ongoing research projects within the WRN, which continues to explore the influences of climate change on extreme flood. This will help insurers develop innovative solutions with relevant contingency planning that can better prepare and protect businesses and communities, increasing resilience to catastrophic flooding.”
Mark Morley, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Willis Re, added: “The combination of climate variability and urban development have amplified the flood risk in Indonesia. This continues to present significant problems for insurers with risks both inside and outside Jakarta. It is crucial to provide the insurance market with a robust and sophisticated model that can help insurers quantify the potential flood risk based on strong and local scientific understanding.
“The new Willis Re Indonesia Flood model allows our clients to have an accurate view on the potential losses so that they can adopt clearer risk appetites, respond to regulatory pressures and make more informed risk transfer decisions on their insurance portfolios.”
