AIR's Enhanced ALERT Service Enables Insurers to Better Manage Catastrophe Risk in Real Time

January 1, 2011 / 2 min read

BOSTON, Jun. 6, 2005 - AIR Worldwide Corporation (AIR) has added key new features to its ALERT(TM) website to further improve insurers' ability to manage their hurricane risk as events unfold. ALERT, which stands for AIR Loss Estimates in Real Time, is a Web-based service that provides insurers with up-to-date information and loss estimates for major catastrophes worldwide.

"ALERT is an indispensable tool as a hurricane is approaching," said Michael Cratem, vice president at Sunshine State Insurance Company. "It keeps me well-informed at a critical time for our company, allowing me to set expectations for my investors and management. Specifically, ALERT determines if our reinsurance is adequate and helps us manage reserves. Additionally, ALERT's highly localized information allows me to understand where to suspend or continue writing business, and how to most effectively deploy claims resources."

For approaching hurricanes, AIR simulates the actual storm parameters and likely tracks provided by the National Hurricane Center to produce scenarios of potential losses. Starting in 2005, AIR will post a range of scenarios with associated loss exceedance probabilities.

For users of AIR's CLASIC/2(TM) and CATRADER® software, ALERT provides event sets that can be downloaded to analyze losses specific to client portfolios, including the effect of demand surge on an occurrence or aggregate basis.

After each landfalling hurricane, AIR dispatches a team of engineers to assess the damage caused by the storm. Starting in 2005, AIR will utilize the findings of post-disaster surveys and officially recorded wind speeds to reconstruct the wind fields for each storm. The reconstructed wind field will enable companies to further refine their loss estimates after the storm.

Also new for 2005, ALERT will be available to ISO clients through ISOnet.

About AIR Worldwide Corporation
AIR Worldwide Corporation (AIR) is a leading risk modeling company helping clients manage the financial impact of catastrophes and weather. Utilizing the latest science and technology, AIR models natural catastrophes in more than 40 countries and the risk from terrorism in the United States. Other areas of expertise include site-specific seismic engineering analysis, catastrophe bonds, and property replacement cost valuation. A member of the ISO family of companies, AIR was founded in 1987 to provide its insurance, reinsurance, corporate, and government clients a complete line of risk modeling software and consulting services that produce consistent and reliable results. Headquartered in Boston, AIR has additional offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visit www.air-worldwide.com.

Release: Immediate

Contacts:
Giuseppe Barone / Erica Helton
MWW Group (for ISO)
201-507-9500
gbarone@mww.com / ehelton@mww.com

Michael Gannon (AIR)
(617) 267-6645