CDS has just added ME, NH and VT to its slope/aspect/elevation report. This cutting-edge report will not only return the slope, aspect and elevation for a location, but it will also give the minimum, maximum and average slope and elevation within a radius of 250’. Currently, this report is available in 13 states, but DC, DE, IN, KY, MD, OH, PA, TN, VA and WV will be added in the next few weeks. We will continue to add more states until we meet our goal of nationwide coverage. If anyone wants us to add a particular state first, please contact an account executive at 617.737.4444.

In order to determine the replacement value for a home or commercial property, it’s imperative to have crucial building characteristic information. CDS is proud to announce that it has added building characteristic information to the RiskMeter Online.

How Does it Work?

Once a user types in an address, they will be prompted to select the reports they want to run. On this page there will be two additional selections: year built/square footage and building characteristics. The latter will not only return year built and square footage, but it will also return: number of stories, roof type, construction type, sales price, etc.

Advantage of Using the RiskMeter Online’s Building Characteristics

In many cases the year built and square footage are required to accurately calculate the replacement cost of a building. If the agent or insured doesn’t know the correct figures, finding out can be a time consuming process. By simply typing in an address on the RiskMeter Online, users can get this crucial underwriting information from one source!

Free Trial!

If anyone is interested in testing the building characteristic report, please contact Daniel Munson at 617.737.4444 or dmunson@cdsys.com

CDS is proud to announce that 112 sinkholes have been added to the RiskMeter Online’s sinkhole database! In an effort to provide the most comprehensive sinkhole report for Florida, CDS is coordinating a sinkhole clearing house for carriers. By sharing sinkhole information, CDS believes this will allow carriers to have the most accurate picture of sinkhole activity in FL. CDS has added roughly 1,000 sinkholes not available from public sources to its database from carriers. Missing just one of these could lead to a very costly claim! Get involved today!

For people who aren’t familiar with this program, here’s how it works. Insurers who submit reported sinkholes will have access to an exclusive database, that is comprised of our data and other carriers’ data. Taking part in this program is a win-win situation, because it will give users a better picture of their sinkhole risk. To find out more about this program, contact Jamie Munson at 860.854.6125 or jmunson@cdsys.com

CDS has just updated the RiskMeter Online’s CO Wildfire Report. The new data used in this report is more up-to-date than the information used in previous reports. Furthermore, the data is also much more detailed (25 meter grids), unlike the older data, which was somewhat granular. Current users will automatically use this data. To add this report or to receive a trial, please contact Dan Munson at 617.737.4444 or dmunson@cdsys.com.

In 2004 Florida HB 0251 was introduced. This bill was designed “to create and maintain a database for use by insurers, who report and remit an excise tax on property insurance premiums; providing incentives to insurers for using the database, and penalties for failure to use the database.” There has been a great deal of buzz on this, not because it is a new idea, but because carriers are unclear of when they would need to use it.

To begin with, the bill states Insurance companies “that do not exercise due diligence in applying the electronic database for tax years on or after January 1, 2006 are subject to a 0.5 percent penalty on the portion of the premium pertaining to any insured risk that is improperly assigned”. As most people are aware, tax year 2006 is due by March 1, 2007. So in a nutshell, carriers need to apply their due diligence on policies written this year.

For more than 5 years CDS Business Mapping, through the RiskMeter, has been providing Premium Tax as a report. Like all of our tests, the RiskMeter uses the Geographic boundaries of the participating municipalities and fire districts defined on the DR 908 form from the FL DOR. We have spoken with many of our clients and are now incorporating the Premium Tax Database provided by the DOR into the Premium Tax report in the RiskMeter. This should bring piece of mind that your due diligence has now been fulfilled.

So what about 2005? If you are responsible for year end reporting of Premium Tax, due by March 1, 2006 and have not completed it, we can help. Many of the carriers we work with throughout the country use our batch services for a variety of reports. We can take your entire book of business and append the applicable tax code for both the Fire and Police in just days. In addition, we can provide premium tax reports for CA, IL, KY, NY and many other states as well! If you are interested in running a batch for year end compliance or to receive a copy of the HB0251 article, please contact Jamie Munson at 860.854.6125 or jmunson@cdsys.com

CDS has just added MN, NM and TN to its Distance to Fire Station report. This brings the total number of states to 36! Within the next few weeks Kentucky will be added as well.

The distance between a property and the primary fire station directly affects your loss ratio. Regardless of the training, personnel or equipment at a station, if an insured location is greater than 5 miles from a station the chance of a large loss is inevitable. By simply typing in an address, you will get: driving distance to local responding fire stations, names of the stations and staffing (career or volunteer).

We will continue to add more states until we meet our goal of providing nationwide coverage. We want your feedback to see which states we should add next. If there is a state you would like to see us add, please contact Jamie Munson at 860.854.6125 or jmunson@cdsys.com. In addition, we also have responding fire district boundaries for the following states: CA, FL, HI, IL, KS, MS, ND and VA.

CDS is pleased to announce that we have made some improvements to the RiskMeter Online’s Crime Report. First, we have updated the scores, which are based on the latest crime data and demographics. Second, we have enhanced the report presentation by changing the colors and tweaking the ranges (example below).

Score Ranges	% of Population
0-100 (below the natl avg)	66%
100-200 (1-2x the natl avg)	20%
200-300 (2-3x the natl avg)	8%
300-400 (3-4x the natl avg)	4%
400-500 (4-5x the natl avg)	1%
Over 500 (More than 5x the natl avg)	1%
Total	100%

In order to make the score ranges more meaningful, we decided to show more variation in the middle ranges, where most users would probably be concerned. For example, in the past, there were separate ranges for 0-49 and 50-100. However, since they’re both under the national average, it really doesn’t matter. Also, on the other end of the spectrum, any score over 500 means that you are in the top 1% of the country. This means whether a location has a score of 650 or 1,100, it’s still a very high risk.

In addition, we have changed the names of the two aggregate sub-scores to match the titles used by the FBI in the Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics (UCR). Crimes Against People is now called Violent Crimes and Crimes Against Property is now called Property Crimes. The categories in each sub-score (robbery, assault, vehicle theft, etc..) are exactly the same. Again, these changes were made to make the data more valuable to our users. Many of our customers have found these reports invaluable for writing commercial property, habitational dwellings and commercial liability policies by identifying high-risk areas prior to instituting coverage.

If you have any questions, please contact Daniel Munson at 617.737.4444 or dmunson@cdsys.com

Insurance Journal – Feb 3, 2006

Dry conditions this year and heavy moisture last year could combine to make Arizona's imminent wildfire season the most devastating yet, experts told Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano at a roundtable discussion.

While Arizona wildfires have either struck in the high or low country in past years, wildland fire experts expect them to occur in both climates this year.

"It could be the worst of last year with the worst of previous years combined," said state forester Kirk Rowdabaugh. "We've never had a situation where it's bad in the low elevations and bad in the high elevations ... We've got the worst of both worlds."

To receive a copy of this article, please contact Paul Ptashnick at 617.737.4444 or pptashnick@cdsys.com

How can the RiskMeter Online Help?

With the wildfire season quickly approaching, now is the time to use the RiskMeter Online’s wildfire report. This report will benefit both carriers and agents by providing cost-effective ways to minimize risk, maximize profits and write new business. Check out some of our cutting-edge features below, which are already being utilized by various carriers and agents!

Batch Processing – Run an entire book of business or a subset through the RiskMeter Online in batch. This process enables carriers to get a clear picture on their risk exposure, and it allows them to make accurate underwriting decisions and pricing adjustments!

Customized Distances – More and more carriers won’t accept policies if they fall within a certain distance from brush. Since the RiskMeter Online can be customized, we can alert your underwriters and agents that a policy won’t be accepted because it falls within 300ft, 500ft, 1,000ft, etc., from brush.

Moratorium Areas – The RiskMeter now has a moratorium report that can be used as needed to alert employees and agents that an area is closed for writing new business. All users need to do is tells us what zips, counties or areas are closed for writing new business, and we will load it on our end.

Customized Accounts for Independent Agents - Finding out which carriers will accept policies is a time consuming process. Fortunately, the RiskMeter Online has the capability to tell independent agents which carriers will accept their new business. This feature lets agents spend more time on business development and less time playing phone tag with various carriers.

For more information, please contact Daniel Munson at 617.737.4444 or dmunson@cdsys.com

CDS will be exhibiting at the following upcoming conferences. Whether you're a customer or prospect, we'd love to meet with you onsite at these exceptional events! Feel free to stop by our booth or if you wish to schedule an appointment, please contact Dan Munson at 617.737.4444 (dmunson@cdsys.com) or Bradley Sherwin at 617.737.4444 (bsherwin@cdsys.com)

AAMGA Automation
March 11 - 14, 2006 *San Antonio, TX

PCI Joint Marketing & Underwriting Seminar
March 26 - 28, 2006 *Las Vegas, NV

RIMS Annual Conference
April 23 - 27, 2006 *Honolulu, HI

AAMGA Annual Meeting
May 7 - 11, 2006 *Maui, HI

IASA Annual Conference and Business Show
June 4 - 7, 2006 *Boston, MA

FAIA Convention & Expo
June 15 - 17, 2006 *Orlando, FL

American Agents Alliance Conference
September 28 - October 2, 2006 *Indian Wells, CA

In order to help you utilize the RiskMeter Online more effectively, we are now offering FREE Online training. This is a great way for your organization to have its most pressing questions answered, learn about reading various risk reports and how to utilize cutting-edge features, such as: Birdseye Geocoding, One Click Ruler and Manual Placement. To register for an upcoming Webcast, click on one of the links below or for more information, contact Charles Kane at 617.737.4444 or ckane@cdsys.com

National
Thursday, February 23, 2006
1:00 pm- 2:00 pm (EDT)
https://cdsys.webex.com

National
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
2:00 pm- 3:00 pm (EDT)
https://cdsys.webex.com

Would you like the opportunity to evaluate any one of our risk reports without obligation? You can now! For a limited time you will be able to test-drive any RiskMeter Online report for FREE! Take advantage of this exceptional opportunity to see how a particular risk report can benefit your organization. To add a FREE, one-month risk report to your account, please call 617.737.4444.

Carriers

• HRH (Hilb, Royal, Hobbs)
• Mitsui Marine & Fire of America
• Travlers National Programs
• United Fire & Casualty

• Al Risk, a division of LA Risk Specialists, Inc
• Apollo Agencies
• Gleason Insurance
• Griffin Underwriting Services
• PGI Commercial
• Southern General Agency of Tennessee

• 718 Ins Agency
• Allsafe
• AMIS
• Arthur J. Gallagher (Colorado)
• Bethel Ins
• Brittany Ins
• ISU Lovering
• Jennings and Assoc
• Owen Boyd Agy
• Statewide Ins
• Torneo Ins
• Universal First

Having a hard time managing your inbox? You can now receive the RiskMeter eNewsletter via regular mail. To get the latest issue of the RiskMeter newsletter delivered to your office (when it becomes available), please email Paul Ptashnick at: pptashnick@cdsys.com

Dan Munson, VP of Marketing & Sales
Tel: 617.737.4444
Email: dmunson@cdsys.com

Jamie Munson, Director of Consulting Services
Tel: 860.854.6125
Email: jmunson@cdsys.com

Bradley Sherwin, Account Executive
Tel: 617.737.4444
Email: bsherwin@cdsys.com

Dave Poitras, Account Executive
Tel: 617.737.4444
Email: dpoitras@cdsys.com

Charles Kane, Training
Tel: 617.737.4444
Email: ckane@cdsys.com

If you would like more information on any of the topics discussed in this newsletter, please contact Dan Munson, VP of Marketing & Sales at: 617.737.4444 or dmunson@cdsys.com

Please forward this free newsletter to a friend or colleague who might benefit from it. We only ask that you send the entire newsletter. Thanks!

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