ISO HomeValue Helps Insurers Estimate Replacement Cost of Condominiums as the 2006 Hurricane Season

January 1, 2011 / 3 min read

BOSTON, June 6, 2006 — ISO HomeValue™, a residential property replacement cost estimator developed by ISO subsidiary AIR Worldwide, has expanded its valuation capabilities to include replacement cost estimates for individual condominium units. As the 2006 hurricane season commences, ensuring adequate insurance-to-value has increased significance to insurers and homeowners alike due to the tremendous growth of condominiums in the United States, particularly in the hurricane-prone coastal areas of Florida.

“As a company having significant exposure in Florida, the addition of condominiums to ISO HomeValue will be a great asset to our underwriting,” said David Valenzano, CPCU, assistant vice president at Universal Insurance Company of North America. “Since condominiums are an important component of our portfolio, it is critical to reliably capture the interior replacement value of the units we insure.”

“In the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area, for example, more than 50,000 condominium units were built or converted between 1995 and 2002, and over the next 10 years, 35,000 more are planned for downtown Miami alone,” said George Davis, vice president at AIR Worldwide. “In Florida, many condominiums are in high-rise buildings located near the water, so they are more likely to experience hurricane-force winds than low-rise inland properties. Features such as balconies, large plate glass windows and sliding glass doors make condominiums particularly vulnerable, as interior features and finishes will suffer significant damage if the glass is breached.”

Support for Condominium Form HO-6 enables insurers to use ISO HomeValue to estimate replacement costs for individual condominium units. The system calculates replacement costs “inside the studs,” providing insurers and agents with the ability to include only the relevant structural components of the building. ISO HomeValue lets users incorporate hundreds of details about each unit, including total living area, interior wall finishes, built-in components, and other details that can impact the cost of replacing the unit.

About ISO HomeValue
ISO HomeValue is an innovative property replacement valuation system that enables insurers and their agents to make reliable estimates of the replacement cost of residential properties in the event of a total loss. By helping to ensure that property policies are written to reflect full replacement value, ISO HomeValue improves underwriting profitability by containing premium leakage. Its intuitive, web-based interface streamlines the replacement cost estimation process and strengthens the insurer-agency relationship. ISO HomeValue is designed with the flexibility to enhance an insurer’s unique workflow needs. It can be integrated with in-house and third-party applications, as well as with a wealth of data sources from ISO. ISO HomeValue was developed by AIR Worldwide Corporation, a subsidiary of ISO.

About ISO
ISO is a leading provider of products and services that help measure, manage and reduce risk. ISO provides data, analytics and decision-support solutions to professionals in many fields, including insurance, finance, real estate, health services, government and human resources. Clients use ISO’s databases and services to classify and evaluate a variety of risks and detect potential fraud. In the U.S. and around the world, ISO’s services help customers protect people, property and financial assets.

Release: Immediate

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

Michael Gannon (AIR Worldwide)
617-267-6645