How a regional insurer reduced inspection costs by 64%
Jul 2024
Using the Nearmap Betterview application, this mutual insurer was able to lower its average risk score and reduce inspection budget.
Jul 2024
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“Betterview has fundamentally changed the way we look at our book. We now know exactly what a property looks like at every stage of the policy, from new business to renewal – all without ordering a physical inspection.”
Senior Underwriter, Regional P&C InsurerThe insurer's ROI
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The challenge
Inaccuracies and inefficiencies
The regional P&C insurer was committed to reducing risk across their book. They wanted a proactive approach – not a responsive one – to predict and prevent future damage. But, their existing workflows couldn’t reliably show them true property condition, leading to an over-reliance on costly physical inspections.
They needed a way to remotely assess property condition for their entire portfolio with maximum efficiency and accuracy. Only then could they reduce the average level of risk across their book, and improve their combined ratio.
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The solution
Optimizing policy action through flagging
Nearmap AI reveals property information, and our adaptable flagging engine transforms it into action. This allows the insurer to triage risk without ordering an inspection.
Here’s how it works:
- Computer vision scans property imagery, detects the presence of risk drivers, and spotlights them in our UI.
- Underwriters automatically flag properties with the spotlights most relevant to their business needs.
- Flagged properties with a high level of risk are prioritized for closer analysis – while low-risk properties are straight-through processed.
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Our insights trigger action from the insurer:
- ACV/Exclusion/NonRenewal – initially major action was taken on over 20% of the properties reviewed.
- Property reviews – the company is nearing 20,000 total property reviews using the application.
The flags on Betterview are the most reliable indicator of a property’s actual level of risk. Our underwriters use them every day.
Senior Underwriter, Regional P&C Insurer
Everything you ever wanted to know about a roof
Inclement weather has increased in the regions where the insurer writes, making roof condition extra relevant. Fortunately, the Betterview application offers a multitude of roof-specific insights powered by artificial intelligence.
- The 100-point Roof Condition Score highlights the presence of staining, ponding, missing shingles, and other factors correlated with future damage.
- AI detections reveal a full and accurate picture of risk to enable better risk mitigation.
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More than just evaluating a single roof, these insights give the insurer a reliable predictor of future property damage. They can then proactively address these concerns, working together with the insured to reduce exposure and improve the overall risk score.
The impact
Lowering risk & cutting expenses
By flagging their book based on relevant roof condition attributes and then prioritizing the risks associated with these flags, the insurer was able to:
- Lower the average risk score for properties in their book.
- Empower underwriters to work through more policies in less time.
- Reduce the budget spent on physical inspections — 64% reduced inspection costs after just 2 years.
After 2 years of book management using the tool, nearly 47% of the insurer’s property book has a visual score in the highest ranking decile (90-100). It was a win for all stakeholders involved.
Underwriters can now zoom out from individual policies and grasp the bigger picture of risk, allowing them to work faster and smarter.
“It didn’t feel like we were just given a ready-made product out of a box. They actually listened to our needs and built a solution that answered them.”
Senior Underwriter, Regional P&C InsurerWrite more profitable business, reduce expenses, and mitigate risk
Betterview gave this insurer an added degree of certainty in their risk evaluation process, allowing them to proactively mitigate risk instead of passively reacting to it.
In the long term, this will directly translate into reduced expenses, better reinsurance rates, and – crucially – the ability to predict and prevent future losses.
In the long term, this will directly translate into reduced expenses, better reinsurance rates, and – crucially – the ability to predict and prevent future losses.