National Insurance Crime Bureau: American Traditions Insurance Company Joins GIC Program

DES PLAINES, Illinois, April 14 -- The National Insurance Crime Bureau issued the following news release:

American Traditions Insurance Company, a company dedicated to providing insurance solutions specifically to Florida residents' needs, joins the Geospatial Intelligence Center program (GIC), an insurance industry consortium spearheaded by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).

As the GIC's newest member, American Traditions Insurance Company now has access to advanced aerial imagery and detailed property data throughout Florida to better serve its policyholders. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic the ability to maintain business continuity is a crucial goal for insurance carriers like American Traditions. Geospatial data from GIC provides additional resources to be used by desk adjusters and reduces the need for on-site visits by allowing field teams to conduct remote inspections using ultra-high-resolution imagery.

Aerial imagery will also improve disaster response by facilitating resource deployment, expediting claims handling, and improving fraud detection following major catastrophic events including hurricanes.

The GIC combines the technical expertise of Vexcel Imaging, an industry-leading photogrammetric and remote sensing company and Esri, the global market leader in geographic information systems to provide the tools and analytics to help insurers make fast, accurate and cost-effective decisions when writing a policy and when resolving claims following a disaster.

Within the first several hours or days following a major disaster, the GIC fleet of fixed-wing aircraft will fly over impacted areas to capture and assess damage to provide members with unprecedented ultra-high-resolution imagery and data on impacted properties. The NICB, working with law enforcement and disaster scene commanders, has provided the GIC program with access to disaster areas as soon as it is safe to fly. The GIC program is able to provide imagery and data to members within 24-36 hours of the aircraft touching down.

"The GIC's technology provides a fast assessment of properties damaged in the aftermath of a disaster," said NICB Chief Operating Officer Jim Schweitzer. "We are proud that American Traditions puts a high value on getting quick access to disaster areas particularly in a state like Florida that has been impacted by several major hurricanes over the past few years and potentially fraudulent activity."

"As Florida's largest manufactured homeowners writer in Florida we look forward to our relationship with NICB and joining efforts to fight fraud and save our policyholders from having to bear the costs of claims abuse." Ray Blacklidge, General Counsel American Traditions.

The GIC provides members with tools to compare pre- and post-storm high-resolution aerial imagery following catastrophic events such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and hailstorms. The imagery is also made available free of charge to first responders and emergency personnel to allow them to better assess the extent of damages and coordinate their response. Information will also provide valuable evidence to help the NICB fight fraudulent claims, which are a frequent problem after catastrophes.

The GIC is committed to mapping the top metropolitan areas with high-resolution aerial imagery each year and the entire continental United States every other year. This includes 45-degree oblique images in urban areas that allow for a rotatable image of any property.

American Traditions Insurance is the latest member to join the Geospatial Intelligence Center, after USAA and Allstate respectively joined the GIC in 2019.

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About the National Insurance Crime Bureau: Headquartered in Des Plaines, Ill., the NICB is the nation's leading not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to preventing, detecting and defeating insurance fraud and vehicle theft through data analytics, investigations, learning and development, government affairs and public affairs. The NICB is supported by more than 1,400 property and casualty insurance companies and self-insured organizations. NICB member companies wrote over $496 billion in insurance premiums in 2018, or more than 81% of the nation's property-casualty insurance. That includes more than 92% ($254 billion) of the nation's personal auto insurance. To learn more visit www.nicb.org.