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5 Hurdles to Insurtech Success

We like to joke that we started an insuretech because we wanted to make money as slowly as possible. It’s a funny, yet exceedingly painful, joke.

We were asked recently to discuss issues that Insurtech companies face in becoming successful. We came up with 5 things that stand between insurtechs and success. Here they are but please note – your mileage may differ.

1) The Maths – All Insuretechs have one super-challenging math equation to overcome –

Risk = Bad

Insuretech = Risk

Therefore, Insuretech = Bad

Insuretechs are busy trying to make themselves more inventive. Which only makes them riskier. As this equation shows us, that’s a bad thing. Much more attention needs to be paid to how Insuretechs can de-risk themselves and make it easier for insurance professionals to rely on them.

HazardHub Adds to its Library of Free Research Options with “Do I Need Flood Insurance” and “Property Elevation” Tools

HazardHub, the nation’s fastest-growing supplier of geospatial risk data, is excited to announce the release of the first of its kind “Do I Need Flood Insurance” tool, available immediately at HazardHub.com, under the Tools tab.

Dr. Brady Foust, Ph.D. – Chief Science Officer of HazardHub – says “Flooding is the number one disaster in the United States. We’ve spent much of the past three years creating as complete a data set as possible for flood risk. Looking at flood risk is a problem bigger than just FEMA maps. While we usually provide this data to the insurance industry, we also saw a huge need for consumers to have an easy-to-understand answer to the vexing issue of flood insurance. Our new “Do I Need Flood Insurance” tool provides answers based upon the user’s property address.”

The HazardHub flood data sets are comprised of three factors.

HazardHub zooms past 100 billion data points for Property analysis

SAN DIEGO CA – HazardHub, the nation’s fastest-growing supplier of geospatial risk data, is excited to announce that it has recently passed 100 billion data points for property analysis in the United States.

Dr. Brady Foust, Ph.D. – Chief Science Officer of HazardHub – says “We’ve worked incredibly hard to develop an unparalleled amount of data for companies concerned with property risk characteristics. Over the last three years, we’ve spent an enormous amount of time increasing the depth and sophistication of our data. We’re pleased to announce that we can currently deliver over 100 billion data points across the United States. The amount and quality of data available via HazardHub are simply unmatched by any other property data company in the United States.”

The process of getting to 100 billion data points involved building dozens of national data sets that provide unparalleled insights to the risks – both simple and complex – that can impact both personal and commercial properties across the US.

HazardHub Introduces ReplacementHubTM Property Replacement Estimations

HazardHub, the nation’s fastest-growing supplier of geospatial risk data, is pleased to announce the introduction of Home Replacement Cost estimates from our award-winning API.

HazardHub combines its high-resolution property data with the intelligence provided by e2Value to create ReplacementHub, an estimate of the amount needed to replace the existing property structure. ReplacementHub recognizes the difference in both commercial and residential properties, applying the most appropriate answer for a given location.

Bob Frady, CEO of HazardHub, says “the recent string of wildfires in California has introduced a new and expensive hazard for property insurers – underinsurance. People are surprised to find that – from a catastrophe or not – they often don’t have enough insurance to cover the cost of rebuilding a home or business. In the end, the insurance company can end up with a compliance and customer nightmare,

HazardHub Introduces Mold Susceptibility Database and Updated Fire Station and Wildfire Data

HazardHub, the nation’s fastest-growing supplier of geospatial risk data, is pleased to announce the launch of two brand new data sets and updates to four others. All new and updated data is immediately available via the HazardHub API.

New datasets include –

HazardHub Mold Susceptibility Index – Mold is an increasingly serious problem for insurers, as undetected water leaks and other environmental conditions can provide a great environment for mold. Mold forms from a combination of internal construction and external environmental conditions. HazardHub’s Mold Susceptibility Index provides a score of the likelihood that the external environmental conditions that encourage mold growth exist at a property.

Airport Noise – We’ve taken noise contours and flight paths from hundreds of public and private airports to create our Airport Noise database.

HazardHub’s HydrantHub Passes 10 Million Fire Hydrant Locations Nationwide

SAN DIEGO CA – HazardHub, the nation’s fastest-growing supplier of geospatial risk data, has announced that HydrantHub – the nation’s first and only addressable database of fire hydrant locations – has just added its 10 millionth fire hydrant location. The milestone was achieved while examining the more than 180 hydrants for Hamlin, NY, as part of HazardHub’s intense drive to add fire hydrant locations.

Distance to a fire hydrant is one of the most critical components to properly priced homeowners and property insurance. Yet – too often – hydrant data is simply missing from existing fire protection algorithms. HydrantHub’s aim is to break that data blockage by collecting and standardizing hydrant data, then making that data available to consumers, insurers, inspectors, and municipalities across the country. Not only can HydrantHub tell you the closest hydrant,

HazardHub Releases New and Updated Data!

It seems like forever since we’ve released new data…even though it’s only been since November! So we decided to release some this month. (Don’t worry, we’ll have some more real soon!) If you’re an API customer, the data is live and available today!

SurgeMax Inundation Depths – Our current SurgeMax model gives you the risk of storm surge, tied to the strength of the storm. We’re adding the actual expected inundation depth from surges of various sizes. This way, you can have a better idea of how to protect a property from storm surge inundation. Our SurgeMax data now includes – Inundation depths for each storm category, CAT 1 through CAT 5 1 foot intervals 1 – 20 feet and > 20 feet, and Areas protected by levees.

Ventus Risk partners with HazardHub for location-specific data

SAN DIEGO CA – HazardHub, the nation’s fastest-growing supplier of geospatial risk data, is pleased to announce that Ventus Risk Management (www.ventusrisk.com) has selected HazardHub as a provider of location-based hazard information.

In an industry slow to embrace change or technology, Ventus stands apart. The Company’s use of applied technology at every stage of the process transforms the landscape of insurance risk transfer, updating and streamlining a traditionally archaic business model while improving risk selection and analysis. By leveraging its proprietary technology, Ventus is fast becoming a market leader that sets a new standard for underwriting and managing catastrophe-exposed insurance risk.

Stuart Mercer, President of Ventus, says “at Ventus, we use technology to enhance the underwriting process. HazardHub shares our mission by providing highly-detailed, location-specific data via an API. They’re accurate, fast and flexible.

HazardHub Releases Frozen Pipe Score, Ice Dam Score and enhanced Weather Variables

An average of a quarter of a million American families have one or more rooms in their homes ruined and their lives disrupted each winter by water pipes freezing and breaking. Until today, the insurance industry has struggled to get their collective hands around this multi-billion dollar risk.

Introducing the Frozen Pipe Score and Ice Dam score from HazardHub!

Frozen Pipe Score

Numerous studies have shown the “threshold” temperature for frozen pipes is when the temperature falls below 20°F for more than 24 hours in areas where freezing is not normally expected and pipes are unprotected in crawl spaces and attics. In areas that experience long periods of winter weather, pipes are generally better protected, but freezing pipes can still occur if bitter temperatures persist for several days. The problem is, therefore,

HazardHub Announces New and Updated data !

It’s with great excitement that we release our latest and greatest datasets. This release features updates on several existing databases, as well as two new databases and an updated data schema! Here are the details –