At a glance:

• 2019 market conditions may mean that improvements in the underwriting process itself will play a larger role in overall underwriting profitability
• There are some key ways insurers can improve their underwriting operations, speed to quote, and risk assessment
• Data integrated into the underwriting workflow, new hazard and event data sources, and a modern underwriting platform, will all play key roles in underwriting performance

At a glance:

• National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was extended (again) on Thursday, Dec 6
• This was the ninth short-term extension in 2018, and the eighteenth extension since 2008
• Congress has until Friday, Dec 21 to pass another extension 
• A long-term solution remains elusive while the NFIP continues to lose an estimated $1.4 billion each year and remains $20+ billion in debt to the US Treasury
• Despite the NFIP, the private flood insurance market grew $217 million in 2017

Randy Pausch, the late professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon, said in his book, The Last Lecture, “Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.” The holidays are a good time to stop and take stock, both personally and professionally. The problem is, many of us are just too busy for gratitude! Appreciation is such a powerful, simple thing, yet so seldom expressed—especially in the workplace. In fact, one survey found that people are less likely to express gratitude at work than any place else, with 74 percent never or rarely expressing gratitude to their boss. Indeed, the workplace can be a place of high critique—whether it’s yourself or others evaluating your work. We’re often quick to criticize, not so quick to give praise.

Following back-to-back years of tragic wildfires, some California residents and business owners will face another crisis—getting wildfire coverage—and making sure it’s adequate and affordable. As an insurer, agent, or broker, how do you rise to this challenge? The challenge of helping Californians rebuild and safeguard their homes and businesses, while protecting your own interests. There’s no doubt, insurance plays a key role in California's economy and resilience as wildfire risk continues to evolve. Last August, California Governor, Jerry Brown, stated about fighting wildfires in California: “We’re in for a really rough ride...and we have to apply all our creativity to make the best of what is going to be an increasingly bad situation.” 

KatRisk’s inland flood depth footprint is just one of the many hurricane post-event footprints made available during recent hurricanes.

With hurricanes comes a deluge of data. First, you have to obtain it, then comes the job of making sense of all of it. Whether you use SpatialKey for your analysis, or another data enrichment and geospatial analytics solution, here are a few tips and definitions to help you make sense of event footprints.

At a glance:

• Hurricane Michael is a Category 4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph
• Located 60 miles SSW of Panama City, Florida
• Landfall expected along Florida's northeastern Gulf Coast sometime Wednesday afternoon
• Cat 4 hurricane has never made landfall in the Florida Panhandle
• Storm surge could reach 9-14+ feet in places
• Rainfall flooding is a significant threat inland into the Carolinas

Hurricane Michael has rapidly intensified. Now the question is, will it hold its strength with landfall? According to forecasters, Hurricane Michael's rapid intensification over the past two days, despite shifting winds, "defies traditional logic." Michael is expected to make history, as it will be the strongest hurricane to ever come ashore (since 1851) along the Florida Panhandle. Hurricane warnings are currently posted for the Florida Gulf coast from the Alabama/Florida border to Suwanee River, Florida, including Pensacola, Panama City, Destin and Tallahassee.