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RiskMeter Online Newsletter

January 2010
 
Members of TMPAA, NAPSLO, AAMGA, CIWA, FAIA
 AAIS - Risk Information Services Partner 
In This Issue
Featured WebEx: RiskMeter Now Featuring RMS Data & Analytics
Featured WebEx: Straight Through Processing
Hail & Tornado Updates
Hail & Tornado Study
Top Ten Tornado Prone Metro Areas
Top Ten Hail Prone Metro Areas
Birdseye Geocoding Patented
FEMA Flood Map Updates
San Francisco Preliminary Flood Maps
What Reports Does the RiskMeter Online Offer?
Upcoming Events
Online Training Schedule
New Customers & Partners
New Integrated Customers
Please Add Us to Your Safe Sender List
Unsubscribe
Issue: # 1
 January 2010
Featured WebEx: RiskMeter Now Featuring RMS Data and Analytics
RiskMeter Online is proud to announce it has formed an alliance with catastrophe modeling firm Risk Management Solutions (RMS). RiskMeter users will now be able to get RMS hazard data and ground-up Average Annual Loss (AAL) and Probable Maximum Loss (PML) metrics for the following natural hazard risks:
  • Earthquake
  • Windstorm (Hurricanes)
  • Winter Storm
  • Severe Convective Storm (Tornado & Hail)
Underwriters and MGA's will now have access to RMS's industry leading data from their desktops by simply entering a few pieces of information.  In addition, these reports can be run anytime, anywhere, and results can be returned within minutes.

RMS hazard data retrieved through RiskMeter includes: Distance to the RMS Coastline, MMI (Mercalli) Scores, Soil Type, and much more. RMS' proprietary hurricane and earthquake scores and risk profiles are also available.

For more information, please contact Daniel Munson, Founder, RiskMeter Online at 617.737.4444 or dmunson@cdsys.com
Featured WebEx: RiskMeter Online Integration Enables Straight Through Processing

Eliminating repetitive steps during the quoting and underwriting process is vital in today's competitive insurance industry. More and more organizations are seeing for themselves how automation has improved underwriting efficiency and helped to boost agents' sales. By integrating with the RiskMeter Online, it's possible to:

  • Eliminate duplicate data entry
  • Validate information as it is entered
  • Pre-fill natural hazard data and building characteristics
  • Truly quote and bind online, because the data is validated prior to being bound

Make straight through processing a reality!  RiskMeter understands the need to streamline your processes and can help you make that happen. Integrating the RiskMeter into in-house or 3rd party quoting and underwriting systems is easy! We have excellent tools and support available, including sample programming code, documentation, an XML generator and a complete integration support portal.

On Thursday, February 11th at 2pm (EDT) Daniel Munson, Founder, RiskMeter Online will lead a live, online demonstration about the various integration options available, their advantages, as well as answer any questions.  To secure your spot for this event, please register here
2008 Data Added to Tornado & Hail Reports
According to an A.M. Best study, tornadoes and related events have accounted for nearly 57% of all catastrophe losses per year since 1953.  Last year alone there were over 1,800 tornadoes and 17,000 hail storms reported by the National Weather Service.
 
In order to provide our users with the most up-to-date information, CDS has just added 2008 data to the RiskMeter Online's Hail and Tornado reports.  These reports are now based on data from 1990 - 2008.  For more information, please speak with an account executive at 617.737.4444
Hail & Tornado Study 
Based on our updated Hail & Tornado models, CDS is in the process of putting together reports that include some
very interesting statistics on the frequency and geography of hail and tornado events.  To receive a free copy,
please contact Daniel Munson at 617.737.4444 or
dmunson@cdsys.com
Top Ten Tornado Prone Metro Areas
CDS has just released its list of the top ten tornado prone metro areas (pop 50,000+).  This list is based on the RiskMeter Online's Tornado Model, which predicts the severity of tornadoes for any location in the Continental United States.  According to this report the top ten tornado prone metro areas are as follows:
  1. Denver, CO*
  2. Hialeah, FL
  3. Hollywood, FL
  4. Little Rock, AR
  5. Houston, TX
  6. Aurora, CO
  7. Miami, FL
  8. Wichita, KS
  9. Plantation, FL
  10. Oklahoma City, OK
*Not downtown, but a rural area to the northeast.

Tornado exposure has and will always be a consistent threat to insurers.  According to a 2009 A.M. Best study, 2008
was not only the worst year for catastrophe losses from tornadoes and related weather events, but it also was the second worst year for the number of tornadoes.  In addition, four of the costliest tornado and severe thunderstorm events in terms of insured property losses occurred during the 2006 - 2008 period.  For more information, please contact Daniel Munson, Founder, RiskMeter at 617.737.4444 or dmunson@cdsys.com
Top Ten Hail Prone Metro Areas
CDS has just released its list of the top ten hail prone metro areas.  This list is based on the RiskMeter Online's Hail Model, which predicts the severity of hail for any location in the Continental United States.  According to this report, the top ten hail prone metro areas (pop 50,000+) are as follows:
  1. Amarillo, TX
  2. Tulsa, OK
  3. Wichita, KS
  4. Oklahoma City, OK
  5. Dodge City, KS
  6. Kansas City, MO
  7. Denver, CO
  8. Fort Worth, TX
  9. Iowa Park, TX
  10. Colorado Springs, CO
Hail events are a constant threat to property and casualty insurers.  In 2008 alone there were over 17,000 hail storms
in the United States.  In addition, according to Swiss RE, 4 out of the top 20 most costly insurance losses were hail
related.  For more information, please contact Daniel Munson, Founder, RiskMeter at 617.737.4444 or dmunson@cdsys.com
RiskMeter's Birdseye Geocoding Patented 
CDS is pleased to announce it has been granted a patent for Birdseye Geocoding.  For those of you who aren't familiar with this feature, it enables users to have the ability to more accurately geocode an address by leveraging aerial photos.

How it Works
When someone types an address into RiskMeter, address dictionaries will locate the request, then place it on a risk map. In some cases, the geocoded location is not in the correct place.  This often happens in rural areas, new developments or with large facilities on big parcels. With Birdseye Gecoding, users can manually move the point (subject) to the correct location and RiskMeter will automatically recalculate all of the results based upon where the user moved the subject on the photo.  So if a user can physically identify a building in the aerial photo, they can be sure to get the best possible answer.

Benefits of Birdseye Geocoding
Although there are many instances where users don't need an exact match, this tool is invaluable when used in conjunction with our FEMA Flood, Flood Elevation, Storm Surge and Wildfire reports, where an exact placement is crucial.  A spotted point that's located on a mailbox, instead of house can mean the difference between being "In" or "Out" of a FEMA flood zone, high risk storm surge or wildfire area. Also, this feature is great for insurers who write accounts, such as: corporate campuses, schools with multiple buildings, farms or large manufacturing facilities.
 
The Next Generation of Birdseye Geocoding 
Another feature which we added about a year ago was the ability to overlay risk maps on our aerial photos (Sample).  Users can now see FEMA flood zones, storm surge, wildfire hazards, etc., on our aerial photos.  This eliminates users from having to compare a risk map to an aerial image.  Contact CDS if you would like to add this feature to your account. 
 
CDS is committed to adding the latest tools to help our users price and assess risk more accurately.  A lot of the features we have added over the years were because of you! If you have any feedback (good or bad), please tell Daniel Munson, Founder, RiskMeter at 617.737.4444 or dmunson@cdsys.com
FEMA Flood Map Updates
New developments, changes in the environment and topology all have an affect on how areas flood.  RiskMeter's number one priority is to give its users access to the best and most up-to-date flood data.  That's why our flood information is refreshed on a monthly basis.  During the course of the year FEMA will issue roughly 12,000 - 18,000 map revisions, which will be digitally updated on the RiskMeter Online.  To see our latest map revisions, click here.
 
There are many things an insurer should know about flood maps.  First, FEMA does not have digital copies of all of their flood maps.  We do.  In addition, many of the digital GIS maps shown on FEMA's web site are out of date. With their flood mapper, much of the data they use is referred to as "Q3 data", which is more than 10 years old!  So be careful; Since there are many updates during the course of the year, using 10 year old data is very risky when underwriting and pricing business.  Second, RiskMeter makes the determination for you, so there's no map interpretation required.  This makes it possible for you to run schedules using our Online batch tool. Furthermore, with our mapping technology, we now allow you to overlay flood maps (and other hazards) right on top of the aerial photo.  For larger risks, this feature can help you to understand what parts of the facility or which buildings are in flood zones and which are not.
 
Finally, FEMA flood maps do not accurately depict areas susceptible to Storm Surge, so we recommend users leverage our Storm Surge report in coastal areas.
 
For more information on our Flood reports, please contact Daniel Munson, Founder, RiskMeter Online at 617.737.4444 or dmunson@cdsys.com
San Francisco Preliminary Flood Maps
Believe it or not, some major cities in the US do NOT have FEMA flood maps.  To become a participating community, cities have to adopt several standards, and in some instances, they have refused to do so.  So in many areas, there are no official FEMA flood zone maps.  San Francisco, CA happens to be one of these cities..  Some of our customers, who write risks in CA, are very concerned about this and we responded with a solution.

As a community prepares to enter the FEMA flood program, preliminary flood maps are drawn up.  They then go through community review and revisions before they are officially adopted.  San Francisco is in the middle of this process and preliminary flood maps have been released.  CDS has obtained these preliminary maps, and they are now available on the Flood Determination and Flood Elevation reports.

Special flood zones have been created by CDS, which are the following:
  • A (Preliminary)
  • D (Preliminary)
  • V (Preliminary)
  • X (Preliminary)
These special zones have been created to alert users that these maps have not been adopted yet and to isolate these results from the official maps. 

CDS plans to add additional preliminary maps to the system as they become available.  If there are other cities that you are interested in, please let your account executive know and we may be able to add them.
What Reports Does RiskMeter Online Offer? 
As you may know, the RiskMeter Online continues to add additional reports as we see a need.  We have recently added reports like storm surge, wind speed maps for additional states, online batch tool and new background images.  We also know that your needs change over time, as you add lines, enter new states or refine your underwriting guidelines. To see a complete list of reports, please view here.
 
If you need additional information or would like to test drive a report for free, please contact Ryan Turgeon at 617.737.4444 or rturgeon@cdsys.com
Upcoming Events - Meet the CDS Team!
RiskMeter Online will be attending or 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!  Don't hesitate to stop by our booth or if you wish to schedule an appointment, please contact Daniel Munson (dmunson@cdsys.com) or Bradley Sherwin (bsherwin@cdsys.com) at 617.737.4444

NAMIC Commercial Lines
February 23-25, 2010 * Chicago, IL

NAPSLO Mid-Year
March 3-6, 2010 * Scottsdale, AZ

AAMGA Automation
March 13-16, 2010 * Orlando, FL

Target Markets Mid-Year Meeting
April 12-14, 2010 * Baltimore, MD
 
PCIAA Joint Marketing & Underwriting
April 18-20, 2010 * Lake Buena Vista, FL
 
NAMIC Personal Lines
April 26-28, 2010 * Chicago, IL
Online Training Schedule  
In order to help you utilize the RiskMeter Online more effectively, we are now offering complimentary training to all of our customers.  This is a great way for your organization to have its most pressing questions answered, learn about the latest risk reports and discover how to utilize cutting-edge features, such as: Birdseye Geocoding, One Click Ruler and Manual Placement. 
 
To attend any of the complimentary training sessions, please register here or to to attend one of our featured WebEx events, please register at one of the links below.

Western Risks
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (EDT)
 
National Risks
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (EDT)
 
Western Risks
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (EDT)

Featured WebEx: Straight Through Processing
Thursday, February 11, 2010
2:00 - 3:00 PM (EDT)
 
National Risks
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (EDT)

Featured WebEx: RMS Data & Analytics
Thursday, February 18, 2010
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (EDT)
 
Western Risks
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (EDT)
New Customers & Partners 
Carriers   
  •  Naxos Avondale Insurance Company
 
MGAs/Wholesale Brokers  
  • Edward E Hall and Company
  • V3 Insurance Partners
 
Agents & Brokers
  •  Ventura Pacific
 
Other    
  •  CMC Consulting
New Integrated Customers
RiskMeter is excited to announce that the following companies have integrated the RiskMeter into their underwriting or quoting systems.
 
  • McMillan Warner (via Intuitive Web Solutions)
As you know, there is a big trend towards straight through processing, and making it easier to do business.  Integrating the RiskMeter into your systems can make you much more efficient, reduce your costs, ensure validated data, and make it easier for your business partners to do business with you.  Dozens of companies have already integrated with the RiskMeter, and we're working with our vendor partners to bring RiskMeter functionality into off-the-shelf quoting and underwriting systems as well.
Please Add Us to Your Safe Senders List 
In order to ensure you receive the RiskMeter newsletter in your inbox, please make sure to add the RiskMeter Online into your Safe Senders or Safe Recipients list.  If you're not sure how to do this, please follow the steps below.
  • In the newsletter Email, click on the outlook actions menu (located between tools and help)
  • Select Junk Email
  • Scroll down to "Add Sender to Safe Senders List" and click on it
  • Click "Ok" button
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To be removed from our mailing list, please Email pptashnick@cdsys.com and type REMOVE in the subject line.
The RiskMeter Online is committed to providing our users with a competitive edge.  We hope this newsletter was informative and useful to you. Please forward this newsletter to a friend or colleague who might benefit from it.  We only ask that you send the entire newsletter. 
 
Thanks,
 

Paul Ptashnick
Director of Marketing, CDS Business Mapping
Tel: 617.737.4444
Email: pptashnick@cdsys.com
 
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