| In This Issue
|
| Virtual MGA & RiskMeter
Integration |
| First Internet Solutions Partners
with RiskMeter |
| Sinkhole Update
|
| LA Storm Surge |
| KY Tax Codes |
| CA Tsunami |
| Northwest Faces Increased Wildfire
Risk |
| EQECAT Earthquake Updates are
Live! |
| AAMGA Annual Meeting
|
| FEMA Flood Map Updates
|
| Upcoming Events
|
| Online Training Schedule
|
| New Customers & Partners
|
| Unsubscribe |
| |
Featured WebEx: Virtual
MGA and RiskMeter Online
Integration
|
|
On Wednesday, June 9, 2010
at 2PM (EDT) Virtual MGA and RiskMeter
Online will unveil Virtual MGA's integration of
RiskMeter into its dynamic risk placement
platform.
For those of you who aren't
familiar with Virtual MGA, they are leaders in
providing web-based risk placement platforms;
specializing in the Lloyd's market, as well as
serving the broader E&S markets. Through this
partnership, it's now possible to pre-fill and
validate natural hazard risk data directly into
the rating engine component of Virtual MGA's risk
placement platform. This enhanced accuracy has
implications for everything from driving rating
rules, requirements and form output, as well as,
bordereaux reporting and accurate aggregate
assignments.
In the Property & Casualty
insurance industry, many risk factors are related
to the location of a piece of business.
Unfortunately, for many Lloyd's brokers,
MGAs and retailers, a large amount of their time
is spent checking natural
hazard risk by using
various third party vendors, making phone calls or
trading Emails. We've streamlined the underwriting
process by eliminating unnecessary
steps that will enable Virtual MGA users to quote
and bind business much faster. Virtual MGA
is excited about bringing RiskMeter's
functionality to its clients because it reduces
the back and forth cycles writing business.
Furthermore, it helps to solve issues associated
with the ambiguities in rating and binding brought
about by "guesswork" in the data input process.
Although underwriting automation helps
organizations to quote and bind business much
faster, it also requires IT departments to take on
another onerous project. One great advantage of
this partnership is that the most difficult work
has been completed. With very little programming,
you and your trading partners are able to hit the
ground running with access to RMS' leading natural
hazard risk reports.
Registration
Information
We have a limited number of
seats for this event. To secure your spot, please
go here. For more
information, please
contact Val Feeney,
Business Partnership Manager at 617.737.4444 or
vfeeney@cdsys.com
|
| First Internet Solutions
Partners with RiskMeter |
|
RiskMeter Online is proud to
announce it has formed a partnership with First
Internet Solutions (FIS), a provider
of
Web-based quoting and policy administration
applications for property & casualty insurance
companies. This partnership will provide FIS
users with the same straight-through-processing
capabilities as their larger carrier
competitors.
In the property and casualty
insurance industry, it's crucial for underwriters
and agents to accurately weigh various natural
hazards. For example, Distance to Coast,
Proximity to Earthquake Faults and Distance to
FEMA Flood Zones are all used to determine
pricing. Through the use of mapping
technology, the RiskMeter Online helps agents and
underwriters to quickly determine a policy's
proximity to over 30 natural hazard
risks.
Many small and
midsized insurers are finding their agents and
underwriters are spending a considerable amount of
time gathering information from different systems,
maintaining files and answering questions from
various parties. FIS has eliminated a lot of
unnecessary back and forth between underwriters
and agents by offering straight-through-processing
through its Equip® Policy Administration
suite. Once a user types in a policy's
address, RiskMeter's servers will automatically
pre-fill natural hazard data into the FIS' Equip
forms.
Although there are many
benefits to automating the underwriting process, a
major drawback is that it requires
IT
departments to take on another costly long term
project. Since FIS is Web-based, it's
possible to provide carriers with a customized
solution and be up and running quickly.
For
more information about this partnership, please
contact Val Feeney, Business Partnership Manager
at 617.737.4444 or
vfeeney@cdsys.com
|
| Sinkhole Update: Over
12,000 Sinkholes in Clearinghouse
|
|
This winter has been a very
active one for sinkhole claims. We have seen
unprecedented interest in finding ways
to
identify sinkhole prone areas and to
mitigate sinkhole claims. RiskMeter continues to
make important progress in this
area. Our goal
is to have the most complete sinkhole database for
Florida. Currently, we are in the process of
expanding
our sinkhole clearinghouse, by adding
data from county clerks' offices and other sources
from the Florida counties most
affected. We
have added 8,500
confirmed sinkholes to our clearinghouse in the
past month by incorporating this data,
bringing the total
number of sinkholes in our database to over
12,000!
RiskMeter users can opt-in
to use this data if they wish, or they can also
choose not to use it. Additionally, included in
these records are sinkhole claims by participating
carriers, which are not available anywhere else.
If you are interested in the Sinkhole
Clearinghouse please contact Dan Munson at 617.737.4444 or
dmunson@cdsys.com
|
LA Storm Surge
Update
|
|
CDS has recently completed
new storm surge data for Eastern Louisiana,
including the New Orleans Metro area. This CDS
derived data replaces the storm surge data
that CDS originally received from the State of
Louisiana Office of Emergency
Management. CDS used elevation, levee,
and SLOSH data to painstakingly map this
area. Levees around New Orleans are
its
only defense and can be easily flooded from even
the smallest hurricane without them. Our new
maps take the levees into account. We were
able to obtain maps showing the levee heights and
used these to factor the levees into the surge
modeling. That being said, our new maps
still show that New Orleans would be flooded by a
strong Cat2 hurricane. These maps will be
available online within the next week. Now
all of CDS's storm surge data is consistent and
engineered through CDS's proprietary methods from
TX to ME.
|
KY Tax
Codes
|
|
CDS uses effective date logic
with it customers who use the RiskMeter to
validate rating territories. We are now
looking
to see if our customers also require
this information for KY tax codes. The
RiskMeter is an approved KY Premium Tax
solution. If you have an interest in
this, please contact Dan Munson at 617.737.4444 or
dmunson@cdsys.com
|
| CA Tsunami |
|
CDS plans to add California
Tsunami maps to the RiskMeter Online within the
next month. Coordinated by CalEMA, these
maps are developed for all populated areas at risk
of tsunamis in California, and represent a
combination of the maximum
considered tsunamis
for each area. These high resolution maps
show coastal areas that are at risk of being
underwater in a Tsunami. More than half of
the CA coastline has been mapped, showing all
populated areas. Like all flooding, these
are not covered under a typical homeowner's
policy. These are a great compliment to the
Tsunami Inundation maps already available for HI
& OR. To add this report to your
account, or for more information, please contact
your account representative at 617.737.4444
|
Northwest Faces Increased
Wildfire Risk in 2010
|
|
A recent Insurance Journal article reported the Northwest
faces an increased wildfire risk due to a
relatively mild winter. According to FEMA,
Idaho, Eastern Washington and South Central Oregon
will be more vulnerable to wildfire in 2010.
For underwriters and agents who write business in
those areas, our CDS Wildfire report is a great
way to quickly check for brush exposure. By
simply typing in an address, it's possible to find
the distance to high, medium and low brush in the
following states: AZ, CA, CO, FL, ID, MT,
NM, NV, OR, SD, UT, WA, WY. To add this
report to your account or for more information,
please speak with an account representative at
617.737.4444
|
| Important EQECAT
Earthquake Updates |
|
RiskMeter has just updated
the Earthquake service we use from EQECAT.
If you're not familiar with EQECAT, they are one
of the leading EQ modeling firms. The data
that we had been using was several years
old. Originally EQECAT built software
specifically for RiskMeter so data could be
quickly pulled from their EQ
model. Unfortunately, there wasn't an easy
way for EQECAT to update the software and data
they provided to CDS. Due to this, their
earthquake data hasn't been updated
in several
years. RiskMeter is now leveraging new
software, which interfaces directly with their
main product line, WorldCat Enterprise. This
means that when they update their data and models
(usually yearly), our data will be updated as
well. So we consider this a significant
improvement! We are now using their newest
model, version 3.13
This update has brought
us additional capabilities. We can now
provide Annual
Average Loss (AAL) and Probable Maximum Loss
(PML) for the EQ peril! The service is
very fast, generally returning data in about 15
seconds!
Customers who use the current
Quick Quake-Assess (QQ Assess) and Quick
Quake-Score (QQ Score) will notice some slight
changes.. The fields returned are not exactly
the same. The QQ Assess will be replaced by
the EQE Ground Shaking Report, and the QQ Score
will be replaced by the EQE EQ Score. The QQ
Assess and Ground Shaking Report are very
similar. Key components, such as the distance
to fault, soil, and MMI Scores (for 100, 250 and
500 years) are still returned. The new EQECAT
EQ score is slightly different. First, the
new score is on a scale from 1-10, rather than
1-6. Also, primary modifiers (yr. built, # of
stories, # of buildings, construction &
occupancy) are required. This allows us to
give a more accurate score, as it takes into
account how the building will respond to
shaking.
We are hoping to switch
all of our online customers to the newer data on
June 1, 2010. If you have any
questions or
issues, please contact Ryan
Turgeon at rturgeon@cdsys.com
or 617.737.4444
|
AAMGA Annual
Meeting
|
|
RiskMeter Online will be
exhibiting at the upcoming AAMGA Annual Meeting
taking place May
23-26, 2010 in Palm Springs, CA. We
always enjoy catching up with customers and
prospects, so please feel free to stop by.
This is a great opportunity to provide feedback so
that we can better serve you! Also,
throughout the conference we will be performing
individual demonstrations of the RMS data and
analytics we have just added to RiskMeter.
If you would like to set up at meeting, please
contact Dan Munson (dmunson@cdsys.com)
or Brad Sherwin (bsherwin@cdsys.com)
|
| FEMA Flood Map Updates
|
|
New developments, topology
and changes in the environment, 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.
Why Use RiskMeter to
Check for Flood Zones?
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
mapping program, much of the data referred to is
"Q3 data", which is more than 10 years
old! So be careful! Since FEMA
issues so many updates during the course of the
year, using data that is outdated can be very
risky to use for underwriting and pricing
purposes. Secondly, with RiskMeter's flood
reports a determination is made for you, so
there's no map interpretation required.
Also, with our mapping technology, we 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.
How
Batch Processing Can Help
If an area
that you write business in has been updated, an
easy way to check your flood zone exposure for a
book of
business is by leveraging our Online
Batch feature. For those of you who aren't
familiar with the RiskMeter Online Batch
(ROB)
service, it allows users to run multiple addresses
or schedules, without the need to type in each
address individually. RiskMeter's batch
feature enables users to upload a file and get the
results emailed back in spreadsheet form anytime,
anywhere.
For more information on
our Flood reports, please contact Daniel Munson,
Founder, RiskMeter Online at 617.737.4444 or
dmunson@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
AAMGA
Annual Meeting
May 23-26, 2010 * Palm
Desert, CA
Acord LOMA Insurance
Services Forum
May 24-26, 2010 * Las
Vegas, NV
FAIA Annual
Convention
June 24-26, 2010 * Orlando,
FL
|
| 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.
National
RisksWednesday, May 26, 2010 2:00 PM
- 3:00 PM (EDT) Western
RisksWednesday, June 2, 2010 2:00 PM
- 3:00 PM (EDT) National
RisksWednesday, June 9, 2010 2:00 PM
- 3:00 PM (EDT) Featured
WebEx: Virtual MGA
IntegrationWednesday, June 9,
2010 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (EDT) Register HereWestern
RisksWednesday, June 16, 2010 2:00
PM - 3:00 PM (EDT) National
RisksWednesday, June 23, 2010 2:00
PM - 3:00 PM (EDT) Western
RisksWednesday, June 30, 2010 2:00
PM - 3:00 PM
(EDT) |
| New Customers &
Partners |
|
|
Carriers
- Berkley Risk Specialists
- Berkley Underwriting Managers
- Harleysville
- Mountain States
- Pharmacists
- Southern Mutual Church Insurance Co.
- Utica First
MGAs/Wholesale
Brokers
- Bliss & Glennon
- Chartwell
- Ryan Specialty Group
|
| RiskMeter Integration
|
|
RiskMeter is excited to
announce that the following companies have
integrated the RiskMeter into their underwriting
and quoting systems.
As you know, there is a big
trend towards straight through processing and
making it easier to do business. Integrating
the RiskMeter into in-house or 3rd party quoting
and underwriting systems is easy! Dozens of
companies have already integrated with the
RiskMeter Online, and we're working with our
vendor partners to bring RiskMeter
functionality into off-the-shelf quoting and
underwriting systems as well. To learn more
about integrating the RiskMeter Online into your
underwriting system, please contact Val Feeney,
Business Partnership Manager at 617.737.4444or
vfeeney@cdsys.com
|
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|
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Email pptashnick@cdsys.com and
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