Events like the Australian bush fires early in 2020 demonstrate how vital it is for insurers to have as much aerial photography, in real time, as possible when dealing with catastrophe claims. Equally, being able to operate early warning systems to policyholders in the path of flooding rivers, or fires, can save people’s lives – and property. Then there’s the issue of parametric claims, which can only work with accurate on-the-ground data.
Geospatial imagery and re/insurance intelligence consultancy McKenzie Intelligence Services (MIS) is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a contract for a European Space Agency (ESA) Demonstration Project.
Awarded through ESA’s Business Applications programme, ESA Space Solutions, the EUR 685,000 co-funding will enable MIS to develop and deliver a Global Event Observer for the insurance industry and to validate its performance with involved pilot users.
Since 2016, MIS has exclusively been the geospatial imagery and intelligence provider for Lloyd’s, its managing agents, TPAs and partners, providing access to invaluable exposure management and claims data following global events via the award-winning MIS-Intel Portal.
The ESA-supported Global Event Observer represents the evolution of MIS’ technology capability, and will enable the further collection and use of highly accurate, geotagged external data from a range of sources – including augmenting data from internet of things devices and satellite and aerial imagery – to provide early warnings of loss events thereby increasing opportunities to mitigate the risks and support the transformation of claims workflows.
Nick Appleyard, Head of Space Solutions, ESA, said:
“ESA sees a significant opportunity for space to support financial services, in particular the insurance sector, since space-derived data allows a rapid assessment of both risk and damage over a wide area of observation. We’re excited to support MIS for this venture with their partners in the insurance sector, which promises the automatic generation of event-driven claims, based on triggers written into the insurance contract and underpinned by cost-effective and trusted information that can be used to remotely investigate and assess the situation on the ground”
Forbes McKenzie, Chief Executive and Founder of MIS, said:
“Our relationship with the Lloyd’s market has gone from strength to strength and this announcement is a significant milestone. The value of what MIS can potentially deliver to the market could be truly remarkable in providing very early data from catastrophe or other loss events quicker than the insurance industry has been able to deliver before.
The possibility of Lloyd’s, insurers, brokers, TPAs and ESA exploring the future applications of space data and processing is another exciting prospect for the industry.”
Vicky Mills, Chief Product Officer at MIS, said:
“The features of a global event observer are far reaching, we can automatically ingest risk data, store and monitor it against insured perils, using a huge number of data sources from around the world. Once a trigger event happens, we send that data back to the client system and they act upon it in either their exposure management, claims or other workflows, greatly speeding these up workflows and providing very accurate data from the ground. For parametric policies, the benefits are multiplied.”
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