Technology ‘of the future’ helps policyholders today

Hail data, shown in red and yellow, overlays
policyholder locations, shown as dots.

When your home or business is damaged by a hail storm, you deserve a prompt response from your insurance company to assess the damage and process your claim so that repairs can begin as soon as possible.

• What if your insurance company could track hailstorms and know immediately how many policyholders might be affected, helping it to assign extra resources to process claims quickly?
• What if your insurance company had the ability to determine the size of hail that struck any given location within the past five years?
• Imagine how the use of aerial data could help the company write detailed roof repair estimates.

While this may sound like science fiction, you don’t need to stretch your imagination. The technology to do all these things is being used today by The Cincinnati Insurance Company and by many other insurers. When technology is used in combination with personal service from a locally based claims professional, policyholders receive a better claims experience.

Hail analysis technology – combined with policyholder databases – can help determine the number of policyholders in a geographical area that may have hail-related claims. This is especially important in catastrophe situations so that your insurance company can deploy a sufficient number of insurance claim professionals to process claims.

Hail analysis and verification technology can accurately determine the size of hail that struck the ground at a given location. This knowledge, in conjunction with an on-site property inspection, determines whether a structure suffered damage by hail or some other cause.

High-resolution aerial imaging can provide pictures showing all of the roof’s dimensions – data that can be downloaded into a claim estimating system. This process provides a detailed repair estimate, enabling a policyholder to receive a settlement check more quickly.

Having this information available helps thwart unscrupulous roofing companies from taking advantage by pressuring homeowners into signing contracts to repair a roof when there is no damage. By reducing potential payments on fraudulent claims, the technology helps contain insurance costs for everyone.

Submitted by Marty Skidmore for The Cincinnati Insurance Companies

2014 Insurance Claims Predicted To Increase

More than 5.6 million people hold flood 
insurance policies in over 21,800 communities 
across the country

Floods. Tornadoes. Hurricanes. Fire. Hail. Damages and spending on weather disasters and a changing climate have been on the rise since 1980 and are projected to increase, in part due to climate change. We Coloradans experienced the catastrophic effects that severe weather can have on our homes, business, and communities last September when we received an average year’s worth of rain in seven short days. The cleanup effort in the aftermath of the flood described as “biblical” by the National Weather Service is just the beginning of costs associated with such severe weather. 

Are you fully covered? Review your policy and make sure it protects you in case Mother Nature decides to impress us again in 2014.

Statistics show the reality that we’re seeing a change in weather patterns. Experts predict more severe weather this year than last, indicating the possibility of higher costs to individuals and communities nationwide, as weather-related claims have risen steadily over the last several years.

Global reinsurance firm, Munich Re, released a report focusing on what it says is a decades-long, increasingly severe series of such events and the costlier insured losses that have accompanied them. They found that the number of weather-related loss events in North America over the last three decades has "nearly quintupled," experiencing the largest increases in weather-related losses of any country. From tornadoes to hurricanes to wildfires, the continent is vulnerable to “every type of hazardous weather peril,” especially because there are no long mountain chains crossing its middle that might break up hot and cold air.

“When global warming combines with natural weather cycles,” the report states, “the risk of severe weather is intensified, and these factors will result in even larger loss costs from natural peril events than what we have seen so far.”

Experts predict extreme weather patterns to
increase in 2014 

The severe flooding and fires that affected many of our communities, families, and friends in Colorado in 2013 serve as a reminder as to why it’s important to make sure our homes, businesses, cars, and medical care are properly covered in case of catastrophe. We can look at what's happened and use that as a bit of a guide going forward. We should prepare for the weather risk changes that lie ahead.

Colorado was also struck by hailstorms last summer. Almost 70,000 total claims were filed due to the disaster, and nearly half of those claims were for vehicles. The Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association (RMIIA) estimated that more than $85 million of the damages from those storms were vehicle-related.

Hail claims are an example of optional coverage that compensates policyholders for weather-related damage. Statistics show that about 75 percent of all U.S. drivers add comprehensive coverage to a policy. A policyholder may consider skipping a comprehensive policy in order to get a cheaper quote, but in light of recent reports on increasingly severe weather across the U.S., choosing comprehensive coverage is likely a smart move.

In terms of optional coverage, comprehensive is one of the last you should give up.  It only amounts to a small portion of your auto insurance bill, but covers a lot of events, especially weather that can be unpredictable.

It’s smart to be proactive with your agent to make sure you are prepared for weather-related problems that may arise. Review catastrophes from the past year, and consider how preparedness would have helped give you peace of mind. To us at Pure Risk Solutions, that means preparing for the coming year, protecting our families, making sure the things we love most – our families, our businesses, our homes, our dreams – are well cared for and protected from weather and other things that are out of our control.

Are your home and car fully covered in case of more extreme weather this summer? For a review of your policy, call or visit us online.

John Jacquat: (303) 834-1001