Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan Adopts Verisk’s LOCATION Platform to Deliver Address-Level Fire Protection Data

Rhea-AI Summary

Verisk (Nasdaq: VRSK) announced that Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan will adopt its LOCATION® platform to enhance the Public Protection Classification (PPC®) system for better fire protection assessment of insured properties. This integration aims to streamline underwriting processes and improve pricing accuracy, utilizing address-level data on fire risk. Verisk's PPC has proven to be significantly more effective in predicting future fire loss compared to traditional distance measures. This partnership reflects Verisk's commitment to leveraging advanced data analytics to optimize insurance operations.

Positive

• Farm Bureau Insurance adoption of LOCATION platform to improve underwriting accuracy.
• PPC system's enhanced precision may lead to better pricing and profitability.
• Verisk's LOCATION platform utilizes advanced data analytics for risk assessment.

Negative

• None.

Lansing, MI and Jersey City, NJ, Aug. 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Verisk (Nasdaq:VRSK), a leading data analytics provider, and Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan (Farm Bureau Insurance), announced today that Farm Bureau Insurance will adopt Verisk’s LOCATION® platform to maximize its use of Public Protection Classification (PPC®) for precise, address-level measurement of the strength of fire protection for insured properties.

Farm Bureau Insurance will use LOCATION, which can deliver address-level information on a variety of risks, to drive PPC’s fire protection grading deeper into its underwriting workflow. The PPC program provides grades to communities across the United States based on their fire prevention and suppression systems.

“In conjunction with our digital transformation initiative to streamline our underwriting operations, we analyzed how we could move beyond manual entry of fire protection data at point of sale to capture this critical risk factor with greater precision,” said Dawn Elzinga, Vice President of Underwriting and Actuarial at Farm Bureau Insurance. “It’s an opportunity to achieve more accurate pricing for our customers and stronger underwriting performance throughout our property portfolio. We turned to Verisk to deliver this data.”

Granular information applied to underwriting and rating decisions can materially affect loss experience—and, ultimately, profitability. A property’s PPC code is based on a thorough grading of a community’s firefighting capabilities and mitigation efforts—and the location of that property relative to responding fire stations and adequate water resources.

“This unique proprietary measurement has been and continues to be the industry gold standard for measuring this type of risk,” said Doug Caccese, president of ISO Personal Lines. “When we looked at modeled versus actual experience, our analysis found PPC to be nine times more powerful at predicting future fire loss than distance to nearest fire station alone. With LOCATION, we can help companies of all sizes enhance their usage of PPC as part of their journey toward increasing digitization.”

PPC’s level of granularity reflects Verisk’s continual monitoring of robust data sources and use of digitized files and state-of-the-art geographic information system (GIS) technology—all backed by decades-long, community-level relationships with the fire service and local authorities. And with delivery via application programming interface (API), implementation is flexible.

About Verisk
Verisk (Nasdaq:VRSK) is a leading data analytics provider serving customers in insurance, energy and specialized markets, and financial services. Using advanced technologies to collect and analyze billions of records, Verisk draws on unique data assets and deep domain expertise to provide first-to-market innovations that are integrated into customer workflows. Verisk offers predictive analytics and decision support solutions to customers in rating, underwriting, claims, catastrophe and weather risk, global risk analytics, natural resources intelligence, economic forecasting, and many other fields. Around the world, Verisk helps customers protect people, property, and financial assets.

Headquartered in Jersey City, N.J., Verisk operates in 30 countries and is a member of Standard & Poor's S&P 500® Index and part of the Nasdaq 100 Index.  For more information, please visit www.verisk.com.

About Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan

Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan was founded in 1949 by Michigan farmers who wanted an insurance company that worked as hard as they did. Those values still guide the company today and are a big reason why we are known as Michigan’s Insurance Company, dedicated to protecting the farms, families, and businesses of this great state. Farm Bureau Insurance agents across Michigan provide a full range of insurance services—life, home, auto, farm, business, retirement, Lake Estate®, and more—protecting Michigan residents with more than 660,000 insurance policies statewide. For more information about Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan: FarmBureauInsurance.co.

Contact:
Joseph Madden
201-232-4486
Joseph.Madden@verisk.com

Brett Garrison
Edelman (for Verisk)
212-639-4903
Brett.Garrison@edelman.com

FAQ

What is the significance of Verisk's LOCATION platform for Farm Bureau Insurance?

The LOCATION platform allows Farm Bureau Insurance to improve fire risk assessment and enhance pricing accuracy in its underwriting process.

How does Verisk's PPC system compare to traditional fire risk assessment methods?

Verisk's PPC system is nine times more effective at predicting future fire loss compared to distance to the nearest fire station.

When was the partnership between Verisk and Farm Bureau Insurance announced?

The partnership was announced on August 25, 2020.

What benefits does the partnership provide to Farm Bureau Insurance and its customers?

The partnership enhances underwriting performance and pricing accuracy, ultimately benefiting customers through more precise risk assessments.