Pitney Bowes Business Insight Unveils Flood Risk Pro with Comprehensive U.S. Flood Risk Data

Pitney Bowes Business Insight unveils Flood Risk Pro with comprehensive U.S. Flood Risk Data; leverages geospatial data to enable the National Flood Insurance Program and Excess Flood coverage insurers to build more current flood risk information into their underwriting processes.

In a year that has seen some of the most severe flooding in recent U.S. history, Pitney Bowes Business Insight (Troy, N.Y.) launched Flood Risk Pro, a new bundle within its Risk Data Suite. This new product will enable National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and Excess Flood coverage insurers to build up-to-date flood risk information into their underwriting processes. Flood Risk Pro provides timely and comprehensive flood zone and Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the vendor reports, adding that the product can help NFIP insurers and Excess Flood coverage providers issue accurate flood insurance policies to their customers.

Flood Risk Pro strengthens Pitney Bowes Business Insight's Risk Data Suite. The Risk Data Suite provides geospatial data about physical and historical insurance risks, as well as information for flood, fire protection, ground sinking, hurricane and severe weather. The products in the suite are used by property and casualty insurers that have pinpointed their policies by geocoding and then use risk data to evaluate the related risks. The new solution can be implemented within the Pitney Bowes Enterprise Data Integration platform and MapInfo Professional mapping software to provide user-friendly interfaces for accessing and analyzing the data, the company says.

"Insurers are always looking to improve the quality and accuracy of their data in an ongoing effort to mitigate their loss exposure due to natural disasters," said Bill Sinn, Strategic Marketing Director, Pitney Bowes Business Insight, in a press release. "It is imperative for NFIP insurers to have accurate data on hand throughout the underwriting process so that they can manage risk appropriately and provide customers with fair pricing."

Katherine Burger is Editorial Director of Bank Systems & Technology and Insurance & Technology, members of UBM TechWeb's InformationWeek Financial Services. She assumed leadership of Bank Systems & Technology in 2003 and of Insurance & Technology in 1991. In addition to ... View Full Bio