Now Available: Foreclosure
Monitoring – Jan 09
Due to the current economic conditions, CDS is now providing insurers with
foreclosure monitoring. By simply sending us an Excel file of your book of
business, we can flag which policies are in the foreclosure process.
There is mounting evidence that shows properties entering a state of foreclosure
have a higher probability of losses (vandalism, water damage, arson, etc.).
Being able to identify policies that are in the foreclosure process will enable
insurers to take proactive steps, such as:
• Ordering a property inspection
• Determining occupancy
• Changing/Reducing coverage
• Increasing premiums
• Issuing a cancellation or non-renewal
Foreclosures will continue to be a problem for insurers going into 2009 (articles
below). For more information about our Foreclosure Monitoring services, please
contact Jamie Munson at 860.854.6125 or Email
FirstBest Systems, Inc. Partners
with RiskMeter – Feb 09
FirstBest® Systems, Inc., has partnered with the RiskMeter Online and
has integrated RiskMeter's natural hazard risk reports into its Underwriting
Management Systems™ (UMS™) platform.
FirstBest Systems delivers advanced Underwriting Management Systems that enable
Insurance companies to write more business and write better business. The
UMS combines a next-generation underwriting workstation with a point-of-sale
agency portal for commercial lines carriers.
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.
As part of its commitment to ease of use, FirstBest's UMS 2.0 integration
with the RiskMeter Online and its popular reports will help speed the underwriting
process with automated property reports.
For more information, please contact Val Feeney, Business Partnership Manager
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.
AgencyPort Partners with RiskMeter
Online – March 09
AgencyPort Insurance Services, Inc., a leading provider of web-based solutions
and services designed specifically for property & casualty insurers, has
formed a partnership with the RiskMeter Online. This partnership will enable
insurers to streamline the underwriting process by eliminating duplicate data
entry, as well as reduce the communication needed between an underwriter or
agent to quote and bind new and existing business.
"In order to provide straight-thru-processing and make it very easy for agents to do business, it's crucial for insurers to integrate with third party data providers in an effort to automate the underwriting process at the point of sale," explains Steven Hauck, Co-Founder & President, AgencyPort. "Our partnership with RiskMeter essentially lowers the cost and risk associated with the combination of two software providers within a total solution. For multiple customers, AgencyPort has developed a re-usable connector to over 30 of RiskMeter's real-time, natural hazard risk reports," says Hauck.
"Submitting new or existing business to a carrier can be error prone and time consuming," explains Daniel Munson, Founder, RiskMeter Online. "In order to quote or bind a piece of business, it requires underwriters and agents to gather information from different systems, maintain multiple files and answer questions from various parties. AgencyPort's partnership with RiskMeter lowers the cost associated with bringing this information into one application framework, providing insurers with a quick return on investment (ROI), by allowing their underwriters to focus on writing business and their agents to concentrate on selling," says Munson.
For more information, please contact Val Feeney, Business Partnership Manager at 617.737.4444 or Email
Virtual MGA Partners with RiskMeter Online
– April 09
Virtual MGA., a leading provider of web-based trading platforms for Managing
General Agents, has partnered with the RiskMeter Online to pre-fill natural
hazard risk data (Distance to Coast, FEMA Flood Zones, Storm Surge, etc.)
into the rating engine component of its on-line platform. This partnership
will reduce the communication between Managing General Agents and their retailers,
as well as streamline the underwriting process.
"In the Property & Casualty insurance industry many risk factors are related to the location of a risk when it comes to pricing or meeting underwriting guidelines," explains Jake Hampton, President, Virtual MGA. "Unfortunately, for many Managing General Agents and retailers, a large amount of their time is spent checking the natural hazard risk for a piece of business by using various third party vendors, making phone calls or trading Emails. This partnership will streamline the underwriting process by eliminating unnecessary steps and in turn will help Virtual MGA users to quote and bind business much faster," says Hampton.
"Right now there's a huge push in the insurance industry to automate the underwriting process," says Dan Munson, Founder, RiskMeter Online. "Although underwriting automation helps organizations to quote and bind business much faster for a competitive advantage, it also requires IT departments to take on another costly long term project. One great advantage of this partnership between RiskMeter Online and Virtual MGA is that we've done all of the IT grunt work, so there's only a minimal amount of programming required, so users can hit the ground running," explains Munson.
For more information about this partnership, please contact Dan Munson, Founder, RiskMeter Online at Email or Jake Hampton, President, Virtual MGA at Email
Pre-Fill Data by Integrating RiskMeter
into Your UMS or AMS Provider – April 09
Did you know the RiskMeter Online can be integrated into your Underwriting
Management System (UMS) or AgencyManagement System (AMS)? Some of vendors
we have already integrated with are ACS2000, AgencyPort, BIPT, FirstBest,
IDP and Sapiens.
The are many advantages of integrating the RiskMeter Online into your UMS or AMS system, such as eliminating duplicate data entry, ability to automatically pre-fill fields, quoting and binding business faster and most importantly, eliminating another IT project, by having RiskMeter do all of the programming. Our goal is to work with as many systems providers as possible and to make RiskMeter an off the shelf option for them.
Let Us Help You!
Tell us who your UMS or AMS provider is and we'll contact them about integrating.
For more information about integration, please contact Val Feeney, Business
Partnership Manager, RiskMeter Online at 617.737.4444 or
Email
850 Sinkholes Added to Clearinghouse
- June 09
CDS is proud to announce we have just added 350 sinkholes to RiskMeter's sinkhole
database. Within the last few months we have added 850 new sinkholes to this
database. In an effort to provide the most comprehensive sinkhole report for
Florida, CDS is coordinating a sinkhole clearing house for carriers. By sharing
sinkhole information, CDS believes this will allow carriers to have the most
accurate picture of sinkhole activity in FL. CDS has added roughly 5,000 sinkholes
not available from public sources to its database from carriers. Missing just
one of these could lead to a very costly claim! Get involved today!
For people who aren't familiar with this program, here's how it works. Insurers
who submit reported sinkholes will have access to an exclusive database, which
is comprised of our data and other carriers' data. Taking part in this program
is a win-win situation because it will give users a better picture of their
sinkhole risk. To find out more about this program, contact Jamie Munson at
860.854.6125 or Email
Kentucky Premium Tax Report Verified by KY DOI -
Aug 09
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 Batch Enhancements are Live - Sept 09
For those of you who aren't familiar with the RiskMeter Online batch
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. Over the last few months CDS has made some enhancements
to the RiskMeter Online Batch Web site, including:
• Option to save results as an Excel spreadsheet
• Internal RiskMeter code deleted from results
• Current batch users can click on a link in RiskMeter and it will automatically
log them into the batch site
• Ability to add Geocoding Accuracy column
• Option to add Latitude/Longitude column
• Ability to click a link in the output table to open an individual
record in RiskMeter to review the results
CDS has just added two new tools to the RiskMeter batch site. The first feature will make it possible for users to automatically upload an Excel input file on the site. The second enhancement is a file preview feature, which will alert users if there are any formatting problems before submission. For more information, please contact Dan Munson at 617.737.4444 or Email
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NEW EQECAT Earthquake Offerings and Modeling
Features - Sept 09
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
Green River Flooding Areas - Oct 09
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
- Oct 09
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
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Distance to Closest Levee Report for CA and LA
Now Available! - Oct 09
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
