An announcement from Munich Re notes that there “has been a steady rise in weather-related natural catastrophes during recent decades, and this also applies to Europe.” As a result the reinsurer has developed tools – its Geo Data or NatCatSERVICE – to analyze the potential impact of such weather events.
Even adjusted for inflation, Munich Re found that “economic losses in the past ten years have more than doubled compared with the 1980s, insured losses rising by a factor of 2.5.” In addition weather related events are expected “to increase in number and severity in future, due to the impacts of climate change.”
In densely populated Western Europe insurers and reinsurers require “precise information” on their insured risks. Munich Re said its “NatCatSERVICE, one of the world’s largest natural hazards’ databases, containing over 25,000 entries, together with geographical information systems,” has been developed to give them the tools to do so. It will “provide the means to assess the risks and prepare natural catastrophe analyses for individual portfolios.”
The “CatLossEstimation Service” gives Munich Re the capability to “create a forecast of losses affecting client portfolios shortly after a severe weather loss has occurred, thus significantly enhancing claims management.”
However, the data required to function effectively needs to be “submitted in a form that can be processed by geographical information systems.” Dr. Ludger Arnoldussen, member of Munich Re’s Board of Management, explained: “For years we have been pushing for greater transparency of insured risks. This is the only way to ensure that the risks are correctly assessed, that accumulation controls are performed, and that efficient risk management is achieved.”
Munich Re summed up the requirements for its Nat Cat Service to work efficiently as “the more precise the information on the risks covered, the more accurately those risks can be assessed.”
Source: Munich Re – www.munichre.com
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