PERILS, an independent organisation providing industry-wide catastrophe insurance data, has launched a new platform providing insurance industry loss estimates for hailstorm events in Australia.
The new insurance tool for hailstorm events in Australia, known as “Hail-Jeannie Australia,” provides real-time information on hail sizes and insurance industry losses for severe hailstorms in the country.
The platform uses weather radar data from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM). The data are converted into best estimates of hailstone sizes to model the industry loss for the past six hours, providing a real-time loss estimate every six hours, seven days a week, and 365 days a year – which PERILS claims to be the first time that such a capability is available in the industry.
The hail and industry loss footprints can be downloaded from Hail-Jeannie at postcode resolution for further analysis.
Darryl Pidcock, the head of PERILS Asia-Pacific, said the new platform offers a new perspective on hailstorm risk for the region as it moves into the upcoming storm season.
“The research collaboration between PERILS and the Bureau around the development of Hail-
Jeannie is a great example of a successful public–private partnership to accelerate the development of new and innovative solutions,” he continued.
The platform also offers multiple benefits to users, such as enhancing the ability to understand the potential impact of a hailstorm immediately after an event and helping insurers prepare the necessary resources to respond quickly and effectively to assist those affected by a major event.
PERILS has also updated the features of its Wind-Jeannie platforms for Europe and Australia to include animations of approaching windstorms seven days into the future, with detailed interactive maps to evaluate the industry loss forecasts. It is also developing a Wind-Jeannie platform for Florida hurricanes.
PERILS CEO Luzi Hitz explained that the organisation designed the Jeannie tools similar to weather forecast websites, with information instantly accessible and easy to understand. Users can also remain up to date by setting up email alerts for wind and hail events in excess of a defined industry loss level.
