PCS to Deliver U.S. County-Level Estimates

September 19, 2018 / 3 min read

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Sept. 19, 2018 — Property Claim Services^® (PCS^®), a Verisk (Nasdaq:VRSK) business, is excited to announce a new level of granularity for U.S. property-catastrophe insured loss estimate data. In the first quarter of 2019, PCS will provide county-level industry insured loss estimates and claim counts for events with insured losses of at least US$1 billion—across all states and perils. PCS has worked closely with insurers in the United States and risk bearers around the world to develop this new view of U.S. catastrophe losses and launch a product enhancement that directly meets the industry’s needs.

PCS has already received county-level projected ultimate loss data from a wide range of insurers, with additional data continuing to be submitted. Initial testing has focused on Texas, with a range of perils causing events of greater than US$1 billion. However, PCS will complete further testing across the United States before county-level industry loss estimates are available for access. Historical events available in the database will include the three large hurricanes from the second half of 2017.

While showing extensive growth into global specialty lines and expansion into markets outside the United States, PCS continues to demonstrate a high level of commitment to the service that has been in place for nearly 70 years, during which it has published industry loss estimates on nearly 1,900 catastrophe events, amounting to insured losses of above US$570 billion (not adjusted for inflation or any other factors).

According to Tom Johansmeyer, cohead of strategy and development for PCS, “The market has sought a county-level solution for years, and past efforts have been helpful but couldn’t deliver the same level of reliability as the extension of the core PCS methodology down to county. This new PCS enhancement will equip insurers and reinsurers to benchmark performance and to manage risk and capital more effectively in the most catastrophe-prone insurance market in the world. PCS has long been the most relevant catastrophe loss reporting agent, with clear independence and a track record like no other. We’re thrilled that our clients collaborated with us on this new solution, and we’re eager to help them put it to work!”

Ted Gregory, cohead of operations for PCS, adds, “The operations team has been working with its usual tireless commitment to develop our new solution for county-level reporting in the United States, particularly while actively engaged in the management of several major catastrophe events from 2017’s unprecedented activity. And we’re thankful for the continued—and increased—support provided by the insurance industry in helping us reach this important milestone. New solutions from PCS require trust, effort, and collaboration. We never lose sight of that fact, and our ongoing efforts will show it.”

PCS is the global insurance and reinsurance industry’s leading loss reporting agency. It currently reports catastrophe losses in the United States, Canada, and Turkey. Additionally, PCS recently entered the global specialty lines space, adding PCS Global Marine and Energy^™, PCS Global Cyber^™, and PCS Global Terror^™ starting in the first half of 2017. Across all categories, PCS designated and reported on more than 100 events in 2017.

About Verisk
Verisk (Nasdaq:VRSK) is a leading data analytics provider serving customers in insurance, energy and specialized markets, and financial services. Using advanced technologies to collect and analyze billions of records, Verisk draws on unique data assets and deep domain expertise to provide first-to-market innovations that are integrated into customer workflows. Verisk offers predictive analytics and decision support solutions to customers in rating, underwriting, claims, catastrophe and weather risk, global risk analytics, natural resources intelligence, economic forecasting, and many other fields. Around the world, Verisk helps customers protect people, property, and financial assets.

Headquartered in Jersey City, N.J., Verisk operates in 30 countries and is a member of Standard & Poor’s S&P 500^® Index. In 2017, Forbes magazine named Verisk to its America’s Best Mid-Size Employers list and to its World’s Most Innovative Companies list. Verisk is one of only seven companies to appear on both lists. For more information, please visit www.verisk.com.

Contact:
Eboni Thomas
Edelman (for PCS)
212-642-7784
eboni.thomas@edelman.com