MSB and Weather Fusion Form Strategic Partnership to Help Property Insurance Carriers Identify Roofs with Pre-existing Hail Damage

MILWAUKEE, May 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Marshall & Swift/Boeckh (MSB), the leading provider of building cost data and analytics to the Property Insurance Industry and Weather Fusion, the leading provider of weather verification services to the insurance and construction industries, announced today that they are forming a strategic partnership aimed at helping insurance carriers proactively identify pre-existing hail damage on new business and renewal portfolio.  The MSB and Weather Fusion collaboration will offer advanced analytics and portfolio reviews to optimize underwriting performance and mitigate roof-related loss expenses.

Weather Fusion has established itself as the leading innovator of address-specific historical hail reports to the insurance industry by developing and providing the only hail fall and hail size analysis techniques based on the specific needs of the insurance industry. The Pre-Existing Hail Risk Score for Underwriting represents the intensity of past storm events, as determined by property-specific hail size, frequency and proximity to the hail core. The strong correlation between this groundbreaking data set and actual roof losses makes application to underwriting and pricing compelling. Insurers can implement underwriting rules based on the Pre-Existing Hail Risk Score to order a roof inspection, or alternatively to waive an inspection that may be unnecessary.

"Hail storms in the U.S. cause over $10 billion in losses on average every year, but unfortunately we don't have much information on the condition of roofs when underwriting a policy. Solving the roof problem is a top strategic priority for nearly every carrier writing in hail-prone states. Our partnership with Weather Fusion further advances MSB's strategy to deliver best of breed, defendable property risk information to help carriers write profitable property business," states Steven Brewer, Senior Vice President of Underwriting Solutions of MSB. "The intelligence provided by the Pre-Existing Hail Risk Score will help our clients to better underwrite and price roof risk and further optimize their inspection operations."

"Underwriters can best determine which properties to inspect for pre-existing roof damage by using hail verification data designed to analyze what actually happened, rather than general climatological data or techniques built to provide public safety warnings," states Don Giuliano, CEO of Weather Fusion. "General climatological data are designed to analyze the risk of future storms within a geographical region and cannot assess the potential for pre-existing roof damage. Techniques built to provide public safety warnings tend to identify likely worst-case scenarios and overstate both hail size and areal coverage. Our partnership with MSB helps carriers integrate the only dataset designed exclusively for hail verification directly into their existing workflow. This means underwriters can now know instantly which properties are most at risk of having pre-existing roof damage."

About Marshall & Swift/Boeckh (MSB)
Marshall & Swift/Boeckh (MSB), a Decision Insight Information Group company, is the leading provider of building cost information, residential and commercial analytics solutions and book of business management services for the property insurance companies, financial services organizations and government entities. MSB offers the industry's most extensive and validated underwriting and claims property data. Throughout their eight decades of experience, they have compiled a strong track record of consistently developing innovative property solutions, analyzing their clients' operations and providing them with the assistance needed to dramatically improve their business results. This track record continues today as they serve as the hub for all of their clients' property needs and work tirelessly to help them maximize their profitability and achieve a competitive advantage.

About Weather Fusion
Weather Fusion focuses exclusively on providing weather verification services. The insurance and construction industries rely on Weather Fusion's HailScope™ technology as the standard to inform their decision-makers regarding severe hail storms, both past and present. They are currently developing new technologies and products for hail and other weather perils for use in the insurance and construction markets. www.weatherfusion.com 

SOURCE Marshall & Swift/Boeckh (MSB)