October 2009
Issue# 10

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)
• Winterstorm
• Severe Convective Storm (Tornado & Hail)

Underwriters and MGA’s will now have access to RMS' industry leading data from their desktops by simply entering a few pieces of information. Underwriters can leverage RMS data and analytics anytime, anywhere and receive results 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 Dan Munson, Founder, RiskMeter Online at 617.737.4444 or Email


Kentucky Premium Tax WebEx Recording Now Available
In August CDS Business Mapping announced its RiskMeter Online Premium Tax Report had been verified by the Kentucky Department of Insurance. This report was created in response to Bill HB 524, which requires insurers
to use a verified electronic risk location system to assess premium taxes by January 1, 2010. Because of the looming deadline, insurers must act now!

Despite best intentions, assigning policies to the wrong tax jurisdictions has been a major issue for insurers who write business in Kentucky, and has resulted in class action lawsuits, as well as insurers having to pay fines due to over/under charging for premium taxes. The RiskMeter Online has automated this process and by simply typing in an address, it's possible to append the correct premium tax code, city code, city name, county and fips code to each policy. In addition, the tax rates for each jurisdiction and line of business can be returned.

Three different delivery methods are available: individual locations, batch processing and integrated services. Since the RiskMeter Online only requires a web-browser, this can be used immediately to ensure compliance with the state laws. There is no software to install, and no programming needs to be done. Longer term, the RiskMeter integrated services allow you
to automatically pull this information into your point of sale and underwriting systems.

For more information on this report, please contact Dan Munson, Founder, RiskMeter Online at 617.737.4444 or Email

KY Tax Code WebEx Recording
Two weeks ago Dan Munson, Founder, RiskMeter Online hosted a live online seminar where he discussed Kentucky Tax Codes,
shared some of his consulting experiences, demonstrated RiskMeter's individual lookup and batch processing features and answered attendees' questions. For those of you who couldn't make it, we have recorded this event and archived it so it can be viewed at your convenience. To receive a copy of this WebEx, please contact Ryan Turgeon, Customer Service &
Training, at 617.737.4444 or Email and he will send a link for the event.

NEW EQECAT Earthquake Offerings and Modeling Features
CDS is pleased to announce that we have expanded our partnership with EQECAT, a leader in earthquake modeling. This expanded agreement will add two new earthquake features to the RiskMeter Online. The first one involves the integration of EQECAT's main software platform, WORLDCATenterprise™(WCe), which includes information based on the latest science and analytics, into RiskMeter. As this model is updated, RiskMeter will automatically reflect those changes by incorporating
the latest earthquake research into its reports, enabling underwriters and agents to have the most up-to-date earthquake information at their fingertips.

The second earthquake feature added to RiskMeter allows underwriters and agents to obtain single site Average Annual Loss (AAL) and Probable Maximum Loss (PML) calculations for earthquake ground shaking. These reports can be retrieved in real-time by simply entering an address and building characteristics.

For anyone who has been looking to use AAL and PML information in underwriting or at the point of sale, this is a huge development. Both AAL and PML information can be returned by entering in an address and filling out a few extra fields. These results are returned along with the rest of your reports in just seconds! Furthermore, this information is also available through the integrated RiskMeter services for real time, straight through processing.

For more information or to set up a live demonstration for your company, please contact Dan Munson, Founder, RiskMeter at 617.737.4444 or Email

FirstBest and RiskMeter Online Featured WebEx Recording is Now Available
Two weeks ago representatives from FirstBest and RiskMeter performed a live demonstration, shared customer experiences and answered questions in regards to FirstBest's Underwriting Management System Version 2.0, which has been integrated with the RiskMeter Online. We have archived this event and it can now be viewed Online. If you're interested in watching this event, please contact Val Feeney at 617.737.4444 or Email and he can send you a link.

About FirstBest
If you're not familiar with FirstBest Systems Inc., they deliver advanced Underwriting Management Systems (UMS) that enable Insurance companies to write more business and write better business. FirstBest's UMS combines a next-generation underwriting workstation with a point-of-sale agency portal for commercial lines carriers. Agents and underwriters just need to enter an address into UMS 2.0 and it will automatically download natural hazard information from RiskMeter.

Many insurers find their underwriters and agents having to spend a majority of time gathering information from different systems, maintaining files and answering questions from various parties. FirstBest's UMS Version 2.0, released in November 2008, offers underwriters full, rules-driven straight-through-processing (STP), including flexible online quotes for agents. The system provides unprecedented online functionality to agents, including online quotes and binders, to make it as easy as possible for them to do business with carriers.

The RiskMeter Online and its partners are committed to streamlining the underwriting process for insurers. For more information about this and other partnerships, please contact Val Feeney, Business Partnership Manager at 617.737.4444 or Email

Green River Flooding Areas
The Army Corps of Engineers is investigating two sinkholes at the Howard Hansen Dam, which was damaged during flooding last January. This dam is vital for the area because it regulates the flow of water down the Green River Valley. Worried that the dam may fail, the Corps plans to reduce the amount of water behind the dam to roughly 60% of capacity to reduce stress. In the event of heavy rainfall, water may have to be released from the dam and it could breach levees protecting communities downstream. The current estimate given by the Army Corps of Engineers of having to release water causing a flood is 1 in 4! King County Officials are assuming the river's levees would mostly contain waters below 13,900 cfs (cubic feet per second) and county officials have been preparing government buildings for flooding up to 17,600 cfs, but they realize the overflow could be much less or much more.

Many insurers writing excess flood, Difference in Conditions (DIC) and Business Interruption (BI) insurance are concerned about the possibility of large claims. The Army Corps has released maps of what areas they expect to flood at different flow levels. CDS is looking to add these maps to the RiskMeter so that insurers and brokers would be able to determine
if an address fell in the areas susceptible to these abnormal floods. Currently, CDS has some of the maps, and will search for the rest if there is a customer need. If this is of interest you, please let us know.. For more information, please contact Dan Munson, Founder, RiskMeter Online at 617.737.4444 or Email

The Stingray System Integrates RiskMeter Online
CDS Business Mapping, LLC., is proud to announce it has formed a new alliance with Maximum Processing to integrate RiskMeter's real-time, natural hazard risk report service into The Stingray System, a fully functional web-based property & casualty insurance administration solution.

In order to help provide straight-through processing and to facilitate accurate underwriting decisions, carriers require real-time, property risk information. The Stingray System has addressed this problem by integrating RiskMeter's real-time, natural hazard reports into its Web-based administration solution.

In the Property & Casualty insurance industry, it's imperative for underwriters and agents to weigh a lot of different geographic risk factors. For example, information on items such as Distance to Coast, FEMA Flood Zones, Distance to Fire Stations, Hail & Tornado Exposure, as well as many others are crucial to accurately determining property risk and pricing. RiskMeter's partnership with Stingray will enable its users to have this information automatically returned so they can quickly assess risk and accurately price policies.

Maximum Processing is committed to improving the functionality of its products so insurers have the best of both worlds, the latest features and the ability to provide their underwriter and agents with straight-through processing. This alliance with RiskMeter Online demonstrates Stingray's commitment to its users.

For more information about this partnership, please contact Dan Munson, Founder, RiskMeter Online at 617.737.4444 or Email

Distance to Closest Levee Report for CA and LA Now Available!
Levees are used throughout the United States to prevent river and coastal flooding. Unfortunately, as we learned from past events, levees in Louisiana and Sacramento are prone to breaching and failures. That's why CDS has added a distance to closest levee report for CA (mainly Sacramento area) and LA. By simply typing in an address, users will be able to find out the distance to closest levee, name of levee, protection (river or coastal) and in some cases levee height. In addition, this report is the perfect compliment to obtain more information if someone runs a Flood Zone Determination
report and gets zones BL and X500L, which are areas protected from a 1% annual chance flood by levees.

We are planning to add more states to RiskMeter's distance to levee report. For more information about this report, please contact Dan Munson, Founder, RiskMeter Online at 617.737.4444 or Email

We Need Your Help!
We're looking for a few RiskMeter Online customers to take an online survey. Your answers will be posted anonymously and used for a consultant's case study about RiskMeter. For all of those long time RiskMeter users out there, we'd appreciate your help! If this is of interest, please Email Paul Ptashnick at Email and he will send you a link to the survey.

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 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 isn't very accurate. 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 Dan Munson, Founder, RiskMeter Online at 617.737.4444 or Email

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 Email

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 or Bradley Sherwin at 617.737.4444

AAMGA Mid-Year
November 12-14, 2009 * Marco Island, FL

Online Training Schedule
In order to help you utilize the RiskMeter Online more effectively, we are now offering complimentary training to all RiskMeter Online customers. This is a great way for your organization to have its most pressing questions answered, learn about various risk reports and discover 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, please contact Ryan Turgeon at 617.737.4444 or Email

Western Risks
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (EDT)
Event Info

National Risks
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (EDT)
Event Info

Western Risks
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (EDT)
Event Info

National Risks
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (EDT)
Event Info

Featured WebEx: RMS and RiskMeter Integration
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (EDT)
Event Info

Welcome to Our Newest Customers & Partners

Carriers
Allied World

MGAs/Wholesale Brokers
PDP Group
Swett & Crawford Clearwater
Swett & Crawford Colorado
Swett & Crawford New Jersey

Agents & Brokers
James E. Hill Insurance Agency
Padron Insurance Agency
Pizzola Insurance Agency

Partners
Maximum Processing (The Stingray System)

Questions or Comments?
If you would like more information on any of the topics discussed in this newsletter, please contact Daniel Munson, Founder, RiskMeter Online at 617.737.4444 or Email

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.