Understory Redefines How Insurance Companies Process Weather-Related Property Damage Claims

Business Wire

Partners with Pacific Specialty Insurance Company to Reduce Storm-Related Losses by 15 Percent

Analytic Weather Data Network Creates Landmark Savings Opportunities for Insurance Industry

MADISON, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Understory, a weather network and analytics company, today announced a collaboration with Pacific Specialty Insurance Company to reduce weather-related property damage insurance claims by 15 percent, which could amount to $455,000 for a single major storm event. This successful partnership verifies Understory’s potential to save the insurance industry billions of dollars per year in claims.

In May 2017, Denver, Colorado experienced a severe hailstorm with damage projections from the insurance industry estimated at $1.4B. Pacific Specialty Insurance Company worked with Understory and was able to dramatically reduce their claim expenses.

“Understory is changing how we handle weather-related property damage claims,” said Cory Candelario, Vice President of Pacific Specialty Insurance Company. “Never before have we been able to correlate specific weather events with potential damage in such a granular way. Because of Understory, we are able to make better decisions within our claims processes, and ultimately, ground-truth claims expenses.”

Sensor Network Provides Hyperlocalized Data

An analysis using Understory’s data on information from a top five, top 50 and regional carrier, amounting to 50,000 policyholders and 10,000 claims, showcased the data’s capabilities to reduce claims expense costs by 15 percent for any storm event. This results in an average savings of $82 per policyholder per year. By using Understory, insurers have an unprecedented weather-measurement tool at their disposal and they are able to drastically optimize claims processes and strengthen ROI.

“Insurers benefit from understanding a storm in retrospect,” said Alex Kubicek, CEO, Understory. “Understory is redefining the industry by offering a revolutionary way to monitor and record weather. Forget radar-based solutions, we measure what happens at the roof-level for companies to better understand specific roof, siding, window and gutter damage.”

Understory’s sensor networks track weather in real-time, collecting critical data that better enables companies like Pacific Specialty Insurance Company to streamline and execute processes based on actual property-damage information. Unlike current radar technologies, Understory provides comprehensive and hyperlocalized data to understand damage on the ground.

Currently deployed in five key metro areas including Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, Denver, St. Louis, and Kansas City, which collectively cover six million homeowners, Understory’s networks are powering unprecedented insights into how weather impacts both property and business operations. With plans to expand to 75 metro areas by 2020, Understory will cover 50 percent of all storm-related losses and over 90 percent of all catastrophe-related losses.

About Understory

Understory analyzes and processes the data it collects to create real-time datasets, views, and actionable information from historical, current, and forecasted weather events to provide better insight and early detection of risks. Understory’s composite of granular weather data has applications across a variety of markets, including broadcasting, agriculture, forecasting, and risk mitigation. For more information, visit www.understoryweather.com.