New Verisk Insurance Solutions – Underwriting Report Documents the Hail Claims Experience of U.S. Residential Property Insurers from 2000 through 2013

JERSEY CITY, N.J., August 26, 2014 — Verisk Insurance Solutions – Underwriting, a Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq:VRSK) business, announces the release of a comprehensive analysis of the past 14 years of hail claims experience across the United States. Property Hail Claims in the United States: 2000–2013 analyzes almost 9 million residential property hail claims reported to Verisk from 2000 through 2013.

The analysis examined many aspects of hail claims losses, including state rankings for average annual loss per claim and per year, annual trends in hail claim frequency and intensity, and inconsistencies that identified outliers and fluctuations in the typical claims experience.

Interesting results from the analysis include:

• Claims are increasing and are costlier. Almost 70 percent of hail losses since 2000 occurred during the past six years.
• Growth in frequency and severity by state are not correlated. The 10 states with the largest increase in number of annual claims are scattered across the country, while the 10 states with the largest increase in average claim severity are concentrated in Hail Alley and the Midwest.
• Hail loss volatility is nearly geographically indiscriminate. States such as Arizona, Georgia, and Tennessee had some of the most dramatic fluctuations in annual hail losses. However, Hail Alley states, including Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri, had years in which annual losses exceeded 100 percent of the 2000–2013 mean.

The analysis was based on data from Verisk’s A-PLUS™ property loss database, which includes 95 percent of claims paid by U.S. homeowners insurers.

Verisk Climate, a Verisk Analytics business, has conducted follow-on research using its Benchmark™ database. From 2009 through 2013, approximately 15 percent of hail claims analyzed had no evidence of hail activity on the reported date of loss, indicating inaccuracies in the reported claim information that affect the association of a claim to a causative weather event (catastrophe or otherwise).

Property Hail Claims in the United States: 2000–2013 is available for download today at http://www.verisk.com/hailclaimsreport.

About Verisk Insurance Solutions – Underwriting
A Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq:VRSK) business, Verisk Insurance Solutions – Underwriting is a leading source of underwriting information about property/casualty insurance risk. Drawing upon vast experience in data management, predictive modeling, and risk assessment solutions, Verisk Insurance Solutions includes the industry-leading brands of ISO, AIR Worldwide, and Xactware. In the United States and around the world, Verisk Analytics helps customers protect people, property, and financial assets. For more information, visit www.verisk.com/insurance.

Contact:

Giuseppe Barone/Colleen Finley
MWW Group (for Verisk)
201-507-9500
gbarone@mww.com
cfinley@mww.com