’We are seeing a changing risk landscape with climate change affecting weather patterns across the UK,’ says product manager
LexisNexis Risk Solutions has launched three new geospatial intelligence datasets in a bid to help UK insurers address weather-related challenges.
The solutions aim to help identify customers at most risk from imminent or future basement flooding, as well as well as tree and wind-related storm damage and subsidence, a statement said today (5 April 2023).
The firm will also provide insurance providers with a holistic view of property risk for pricing and underwriting.
Caroline Elliott-Grey, UK and Ireland product manager, told Insurance Times that the datasets were a response to industry demands amid a “changing risk landscape”.
“We are seeing a changing risk landscape with climate change affecting weather patterns across the UK,” she explained.
The solutions
The basements indicator, national tree mapping (NTM) and windstorm model will allow underwriters and brokers to access data alongside its existing suite of products.
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A statement said the basements indicator will combine multiple data sources to create a “unique attribute that helps property insurance providers identify whether a basement or an underground level may be present in a home or a commercial building”.
Meanwhile, LexisNexis said insurance providers “can now understand the likely location and height of trees in the proximity of the properties they are insuring” through its national tree mapping.
It claimed this was the ”first ever” detailed national map of the hundreds of millions of trees across England and Wales.
And the windstorm model aims to predict the maximum wind gust speeds as a better predictor for property and structural damage compared to sustained wind speeds.
“The windstorm model will help home insurance, commercial insurance and motor insurance providers to more accurately assess the level of risk to a property or a vehicle across the UK,” a statement said.
Elliott-Grey said the solutions have been modelled over a “10, 25, and 50-year time frame” as threats posed by climate change “are continuing to evolve”.
She added: “Property insurance providers need to plan how they will map the long-term impact of climate change on their books of business.
”More data means more granularity and spatial accuracy in the predictions, allowing for more accurate pricing, as well as the crucial ability to better manage risk as events unfold.”
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