As interesting as it was, the article concerning the ISL analytical tool and the "Big Freeze to cost £100m" headline (16 January, Insurance Times), should not be taken at face value by readers.
Our earliest indications of frost claim verifications appear to indicate a much more modest impact. Moreover, those claims that are arriving on our desks have seldom fallen into the "ten most prone" postcodes as indicated.
The problem with `big freeze' situations is that the impact is always widespread and therefore not necessarily focused on the areas most prone to severe frost and ice.
Analytical tools to estimate weather claim levels may well sound sexy and appear highly attractive, but insurers should be aware that nothing whatsoever compares to the raw facts, in the hands of trained and experienced insurance meteorologists.
Jim Dale
Managing director
British Weather Services
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