Verisk to give commercial properties hazard scores
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Verisk Analytics Inc.’s Verisk Insurance Solutions unit said Monday that it will provide properties a relative hazard score on all field surveys performed by the company.
Comparing a commercial property against similar properties will help insurers identify the need for loss control measures and help them make informed decisions, according to a Verisk Insurance Solutions statement.
Verisk’s field analysts perform onsite property underwriting surveys that now include the hazard score, or relative hazard percentile, which uses an engineering formula to evaluate a building’s construction, occupancy, fire protection, and exposures. The property features and conditions are scored in relations to state and national averages for similar buildings in Verisk’s commercial property database of buildings, ProMetrix, according to the statement.
“The property condition and associated risks are obviously important, but knowing how that property’s risk characteristics compare with those of its peers provides a powerful insight,” said Peter de Freitas, assistant vice president for ProMetrix. “Verisk’s Relative Hazard Percentile stratifies properties and gives our customers an objective risk score for individual risk selection and loss control prioritization.”
Relative hazard percentile is a scale of 1 to 100. Higher scores mean that the building has fewer deficiencies and is ranked better than properties with the same occupancy, size, and level of fire protection, Verisk said in a statement.
Additionally, the construction class, the occupancy, private fire protection capabilities, and seismic activity are characteristics that factor into the relative hazard percentile.
“This additional insight allows underwriters to quickly identify which properties have higher or lower risk,” said Mr. de Freitas. “And that helps them make more informed underwriting, tiering, and coverage selection decisions.”
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