ZestyAI’s Z-Water Approved in Five States

ZestyAI announced that its non-weather water risk model, Z-WATER, has been reviewed and accepted for use in underwriting and rating in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, and Wisconsin.

Insurers in these states will now be able to set property-specific rates, align coverage with home-level vulnerabilities, and target inspections and mitigation strategies—including smart water sensors—to reduce cross-subsidization and improve portfolio performance.

Claim severity for non-weather water has climbed 80% in the past decade, and average losses now exceed $13,000, making it the fourth-costliest peril in homeowners insurance, ZestyAI said.

Using verified insurer loss data, Z-WATER applies computer vision to aerial imagery and incorporates property-level data, permitting history, localized climatology, and infrastructure context to capture the property-specific drivers of interior water losses. By modeling how these variables interact, Z-WATER predicts both the frequency and severity of non-weather water claims with up to 18× greater accuracy than traditional models.