Event Damage for Underwriting: Quickly Assess Post-Cat Property Risk
The new underwriting solution, currently available for select carrier testing in the U.S., provides property-specific damage insights following a catastrophic (cat) event, empowering carriers to resume operations more quickly.
In the immediate aftermath of a catastrophic event, insurance carriers face a familiar challenge: how to resume underwriting operations swiftly and responsibly, without sacrificing accuracy or exposing themselves to unnecessary risk. Traditional methods like manual inspections, delayed imagery, or blanket moratoriums often fall short in delivering the precision and speed required to make informed decisions at scale.
Event Damage for Underwriting is designed to address this challenge directly, offering property-specific damage assessments derived from high-resolution aerial imagery captured shortly after a catastrophic event like a hurricane, wildfire, or tornado. Built for underwriting teams navigating the uncertainty of post-cat environments, this solution, now available for select carrier testing in the U.S., delivers property-specific damage assessments soon after aerial imagery capture. The result allows for a faster, more targeted return to business operations, with minimal disruption and maximum clarity.
Purpose-Built for Post-Cat Underwriting
Event Damage for Underwriting provides carriers with a more surgical approach to post-event operations. Rather than relying on blanket moratoriums or delayed inspections, carriers can now determine which properties in an affected region are actually damaged and resume quoting where appropriate. Only a small percentage of properties in a hurricane’s path, for example, might actually be damaged by the storm. Leveraging Event Damage for Underwriting not only aims to reduce operational downtime but also seeks to improve the customer experience by avoiding unnecessary delays for unaffected or prospective policyholders.
Event Damage for Underwriting, part of CAPE Property Intelligence, offers several key benefits including:
Insights after significant weather events: The damage‑detection model is run on gray sky aerial imagery within days of capture.
Property‑level damage severity ratings: Each location receives a clear, four‑level severity rating that quantifies the damage.
Reason codes: Damage ratings are backed by reason codes that add explainability to the damage a property experienced, such as destroyed structures, significant roof damage, debris, and more.
Visual verification: Review pre- and post‑event imagery side‑by‑side in the CAPE personal lines or commercial lines apps.
Supporting Critical Underwriting Workflows
Event Damage for Underwriting is designed to support underwriting teams facing the operational challenges that follow large-scale events. The impacts of these catastrophes, which are highly localized, can lead to unnecessary quoting interruption and inefficiencies.
This solution allows carriers to have an improved response by providing location-specific damage insights validated by imagery after an event. Two key use cases reflect the most impactful applications for underwriting teams seeking to resume business operations quickly and responsibly. The first is for post-cat underwriting, where carriers can resume quoting activity quickly and responsibly by identifying which properties are safe to underwrite. The second is workflow prioritization that allows insurers to allocate underwriting and inspection resources more efficiently by focusing on properties with confirmed damage.
The Future of Getting Back to Business
Catastrophic weather events are no longer defined by the calendar; they occur year-round. By delivering timely, property-specific insights following a catastrophic event, Event Damage for Underwriting allows carriers to move beyond reactive, one-size-fits-all responses and toward a more intelligent, data-driven approach to post-event underwriting.
Testing is now available for a limited number of carriers already leveraging CAPE Property Intelligence, part of Moody’s suite of property underwriting solutions. To request to participate, reach out to your CAPE representative.