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Underwriting U.S. flood no longer needs to be so risky
We're excited to announce the launch of our property-level resolution US flood maps – the highest resolution available on the market at national scale.
Made possible by transformational science and machine learning techniques, the best in class maps are designed to enable the insurance industry to expand their coverage of US flood – a peril insurers have been reluctant to underwrite historically due to limitations in existing data.
“There’s a widely held perception that flood is too risky to write in the US, which results in the significant insurance gap that we’re all familiar with – believed to be in the region of $10 billion,” explains Matt Reid, Managing Director in JBA Risk Management’s US headquarters.
“Our new maps give insurers access to high-quality data which reflects the nuances of flood risk exposure for the entire contiguous United States. Property-level data are vital for urban areas, which have a high density of insured assets, so these maps are really changing the playing field.”
The maps cover three major flood types at 5 meter resolution – fluvial (river flood), pluvial (surface water flood) and storm surge. Unlike most other industry data, they also use bespoke methods to capture hurricane scenarios where these flood types often occur simultaneously.
Rebecca Alexandre, Global Mapping Specialist at JBA Risk Management adds: “Flood risk is an important but complex peril. It requires more detail than other perils because a flood event can devastate some properties on a particular street while leaving others entirely unharmed. A lack of detailed data has therefore left a huge gap in the market. We’ve used the latest technologies to empower US insurers to understand flood risk in a level of detail that hasn’t been available before. Writing flood no longer needs to be risky; now is the time to capitalize on the opportunity.”
JBA is the market leader in flood mapping and modelling. We've worked with the global re/insurance industry for over 10 years to provide scientifically robust flood risk intelligence.
Interested in speaking to the team to find out more or to request sample data for the US maps? Fill in the form above to request a call-back.
JBA’s 5m US Flood Map uses Applied Research Associates Inc’s hurricane storm surge levels for the Gulf and Atlantic coast.
