New Product For The Insurance Industry Enables Faster And More Accurate Rates And Claims Decisions

Windsor, Berks UK, 15 April 2010 – Pitney Bowes Business Insight (PBBI) – a global provider of location intelligence, data management and customer communication management software, data and services – today announces the launch of its Risk Data Suite™, a new product for the insurance industry specifically designed to assist underwriting decisions, improve risk awareness and monitor exposure.  Barbican Insurance, a Lloyd’s syndicate company, is the first company to use the product.

The Risk Data Suite combines geospatial datasets and historical information on a variety of perils – including flooding, subsidence, crime and arson – with the ability to analyse this data via PBBI’s MapInfo Professional™ location intelligence and mapping software.  By providing an integrated, location-specific view of potential risk, the Risk Data Suite enables insurance professionals to make faster and more accurate decisions regarding rates and claims. 

Not only does the Risk Data Suite reduce risk by creating a better understanding of insurance companies’ ‘book of business’ exposure, but also enables insurers to offer customers more accurate ratings based on exact locations and demographics rather than just standard banding.  Companies using the product could thus become more attractive to potential customers as well as increasing retention of existing customers, both of which could impact positively on sales.  Better understanding of exposure could also help companies to minimise risk and more accurately manage their claims and reinsurance costs.

“The Risk Data Suite enables us to make sophisticated underwriting decisions based on the actual conditions and historical precedents that exist in any given location,” said David Horan, Corporate Catastrophe Accumulations Manager at Barbican Insurance.  “By integrating geographic information with risk datasets and front-ending it with an easy to use interface, the Risk Data Suite lets us quickly and clearly run scenarios and analysis. We can look up specific risks and identify exposure hotspots in precise locations, and drill down for more information just by clicking on the highlighted areas on the onscreen map.  We can also better respond to Lloyd’s Realistic Disaster Scenario events, which is important for maintaining our standing in the industry.

“Ultimately, the Risk Data Suite enhances our offering to customers because our ratings are more accurate and we are able to process claims more quickly.  In other words, we are able to offer a personalised service that assures our customers they are being treated on a case-by-case basis rather just receiving an off-the-shelf product.”

The Risk Data Suite has been designed for all levels of users within insurance companies, from specialist catastrophe management analysts to underwriters, and can also be used to create a fully automated online ratings and claims process, where customers are empowered to build and manage their own insurance products via the provider’s website. 

The Risk Data Suite provides a single, up-to-date database, across all UK postcodes, with detailed information regarding perils:

•   Flood offers insight into the risk of flooding at the property level, classified into three categories - low, moderate and significant. This dataset is populated across all postcodes where the flood risk assessment is available and provides a GIS layer to visualise and improve understanding in specific areas.

•   Subsidence is populated across all UK postcodes providing modelled risk information based on swell-shrink clay, landslides, soluble rocks, running sands and collapsible and compressible deposits.

•   Crime provides comprehensive scores for the risk of domestic and commercial theft and arson at full digit postcode level. These risks have been derived from various statistical sources.

It is also designed to have the flexibility to incorporate additional peril datasets as required.