AIR Expands Model to Include Buildings Under Construction

AIR Worldwide (AIR) announced that it has expanded its offerings for commercial insurers with a capability for determining losses from natural catastrophes to buildings under construction.

CLASIC/2 Version 14.0 introduces the ability to model builder’s risk policies for the AIR earthquake and hurricane models for the United States. AIR designed the updated version to support the policy conditions that characterize commercial insurance, enabling companies to assess catastrophe loss potential from the portfolio level down to the individual location level.

According to the U.S Census Bureau, in the first four months of 2012 alone, the total value of residential and nonresidential construction work on U.S. soil exceeded $238 billion.

“The catastrophe risk to buildings under construction is highly dynamic,” said Jayanta Guin, SVP of research and modeling at AIR Worldwide. “Both the vulnerability and replacement value change at each construction phase. By integrating vulnerability, cost and seasonality for buildings of all construction and occupancy classes, the model accurately estimates the risk to buildings at each construction phase, from foundation and substructure to finish, and for the construction project as a whole.” 

The software is also designed to enable the full range of financial terms and conditions to be applied to such policies, according to AIR, which can vary significantly in terms of deductibles and financial structures.

“This latest release is yet another advance in providing commercial insurers with a reliable and trusted modeling solution,” said Bill Churney, SVP at AIR Worldwide. “As a result, companies representing more than half of U.S. commercial lines premiums use the AIR model internally to assess their risk.” 

The new builder’s risk capability follows on the heels of AIR’s software support for the construction all risks/erection all risks line of business in its models for the Asia-Pacific region.

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