ISO CatCube Unveiled

Insurance Services Office has launched ISO CatCube, a flexible way to access and analyze data in ISO’s Property Claim Services Catastrophe History Database.

Insurers, risk managers and other industry interests use the Catastrophe History Database for catastrophe planning, reinsurance purchases, resource allocation, and underwriting and marketing programs.

ISO CatCube uses Cognos PowerPlay online analytical processing software that enables users – armed only with a Web browser and a password for ISOnet, ISO’s Internet information service for insurance professionals – to explore any combination of database elements and examine how different types of information interact.

For instance, an insurer might look at information on catastrophes such as windstorms, fires or hurricanes, by catastrophe serial number, date of occurrence, state(s) affected, any of 10 categories of catastrophe types, amount of loss and type of insured-loss estimate (preliminary, resurvey or final).

Users can drill down through multiple levels in each information category and display results in a number of preformatted reports or graphs. Using ISOnet also makes it easy to link with other PCS information, such as catastrophe bulletins and daily event reports for events since January 1998.

The PCS Catastrophe History Database, with data from as far back as 1949, provides U.S. insured-loss evaluations for catastrophic events.