ISO Releases CV Foreclosure Alert for Risk Monitoring

January 1, 2011 / 3 min read

Pioneer State Mutual Insurance Company Signs Up as an Early Adopter

JERSEY CITY, N.J., November 10, 2008 — ISO has announced the release of a new product that will notify underwriters when a foreclosure notice is issued to one of their policyholders. CV Foreclosure Alert, part of the Coverage VerifierSM Suite of Services, provides information that insurers need to assess a growing risk exposure and take steps to measure and mitigate the risk.

Millions of homes are being foreclosed since the housing bubble burst and the subprime mortgage crisis has spread. “An insurer issues a homeowners policy based on certain known parameters. But those parameters change in the event of a foreclosure,” says James Levendusky, Coverage Verifier product manager. “Unlike some misfortunes that can affect a home, foreclosure is not sudden or unexpected. It’s a measured process, with each stage prompting public notice. Our product monitors those notices and lets insurers know when their risk exposure is altered, so they can take steps to protect their company and their policyholders.”

Insurers can use CV Foreclosure Alert to monitor their books of business using policyholder data supplied directly for the purpose or data already provided to ISO through the Coverage Verifier service. ISO will monitor the insured properties and automatically notify the insurer when any one of the five types of foreclosure notices is issued. The types of notices or stages of foreclosure are notice of default (NOD) — the owner is several months behind on the mortgage; lis pendens (LIS) — legal action is pending; notice of trustee sale (NTS) — the property is set for auction; notice of foreclosure (NFS) — the property is sold at auction; and real estate–owned (REO) — the lender assumes ownership of the unsold property.

Once a property is in foreclosure, insurers may also choose to order a property inspection to verify the condition of the property and whether or not it is inhabited. CV Foreclosure alert provides an inspection service as part of its offering. An occupancy inspection report can be ordered as a separate transaction or automatically initiated by the system based on default criteria established by the customer.

“Insurers definitely have a need for this kind of information to measure and manage their risk accurately,” said Levendusky. “In fact, our first CV Foreclosure Alert customer, Pioneer State Mutual Insurance Company of Michigan, signed up before the product was launched.”

Jeffrey Little, director of loss control for Pioneer State, said “We’re pleased to be able to utilize CV Foreclosure Alert to monitor our book of property policies. We’re using it in conjunction with ISO’s Coverage Verifier product. It is one of several underwriting information and workflow solutions we are able to take advantage of through a single data feed of our policy information to Coverage Verifier.”

For more information, contact James Levendusky by telephone at 201-469-3173, or send e-mail to jlevendusky@iso.com.

About Pioneer State Mutual Insurance Company
Since 1908, Pioneer State Mutual Insurance Company and its network of independent insurance agents have served tens of thousands of policyholders in Michigan. Today, the company offers a wide array of insurance options, including auto, homeowners, farmowners, mobile homeowners, businessowners, and workers compensation policies expertly tailored to the specific needs of each client.

About ISO
A leading source of information about risk, ISO provides data, analytics, and decision-support services to professionals in many fields, including insurance, finance, real estate, health services, government, human resources, and risk management. Using advanced technologies to collect, analyze, develop, and deliver information, ISO helps customers evaluate and manage risk. The company draws on vast expertise in actuarial science, insurance coverages, fire protection, fraud prevention, catastrophe and weather risk, predictive modeling, data management, economic forecasting, social and technological trends, and many other fields. To meet the needs of diverse clients, ISO employs an experienced staff of business and technical specialists, analysts, and certified professionals. In the United States and around the world, ISO helps customers protect people, property, and financial assets.

Release: Immediate

Contacts:
Giuseppe Barone / Erica Helton
MWW Group (for ISO)
201-507-9500
gbarone@mww.com / ehelton@mww.com