Commercial insurer Hartford Steam Boiler has announced an expanded Internet of Things rollout to prevent property damages for small businesses and organizations.
Borne out of its subsidiary Meshify, which it acquired in 2016, new devices at a lower cost point than previous HSB efforts will make it easier to prevent non-weather-related water damage, one of the industry’s leading loss causes.
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Like all HSB’s IoT sensors, this new solution uses cellular technology to communicate to HSB’s cloud services, however, one major difference is the cost of a separate cellular gateway device. The device connects once a tab is pulled, and uses proprietary algorithms to monitor for water leaks, freeze conditions and extreme temperatures.
“The cost of the HSB new sensors is comparable to residential Wi-Fi sensor devices, however, HSB also provides a full service program” including monitoring, says Jack Volinski, Senior Vice President and Head of HSB’s IoT business. “We give business owners an effective means to identify these risks all the time, including when their facilities are not occupied, such as nights or weekends.”
Because of its soil and its status as the world's fastest-warming continent, Europe is particularly exposed. The European Central Bank estimates the region's potential damage from sinking land at more than €2.5 trillion ($2.9 billion) across all euro-area financial institutions.
(Bloomberg) --California's insurance regulator has launched a formal investigation into State Farm's handling of claims related to January's Los Angeles wildfires, after groups of survivors complained that the process could lead to confusion and delayed payouts.
