ZestyAI Announces AI-Powered Risk Analytics Solution for Severe Convective Storms

ZestyAI, the leading provider of climate and property risk analytics solutions powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), announced that severe convective storms have joined the growing list of perils addressed by the company’s risk analytics platform. Together, ZestyAI’s new Z-WIND and next-generation Z-HAIL models provide a comprehensive solution for severe convective storms — the fastest growing and most costly secondary peril insurers face with nearly $22 billion in damage reported in 2022 alone.

“Insurers continue to grapple with skyrocketing losses brought on by traditional stochastic models that provide inadequate risk assessment for severe convective storms,” said Kumar Dhuvur, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of ZestyAI. “That leaves carriers struggling to explain claims when they occur, often falling back to methodology that focuses exclusively on individual large storms. Using a single event to explain losses is like blaming a single candy bar when a tooth develops a cavity.”

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ZestyAI’s Z-HAIL and Z-WIND models are rooted in scientific research, including a study just released by ZestyAI and the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), which shows claim frequency is affected by property-level characteristics, accumulated roof damage from previous storms, and potential exposure to future hail events. Traditional stochastic models don’t account for the relationship between weather and the structure itself, and they also have many shortcomings with respect to data sources – records don’t provide full geographic coverage and only consider storms reported to have hailstones over one inch. These omissions in both property-specific and climate data result in predictions that are wildly off actuals.

ZestyAI’s models are unique in that they intersect decades of historical climatology data with property-specific features for unparalleled accuracy in risk assessment. To do this, ZestyAI taps into the immense computing power of the cloud and leverages the latest techniques of AI and machine learning. Using its proprietary Digital Roof technology, ZestyAI is able to precisely model the vulnerability of every property in North America to hail and wind based on their specific characteristics, such as roof complexity, quality, and building materials, among others.

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These vast amounts of data are then synthesized into two scores, Claim Frequency and Claim Severity, so insurers have an accurate assessment of the expected claim frequency for each property as well as an accurate understanding of how serious a future claim may be.

Z-HAIL and Z-WIND are the first AI models to give carriers hail and wind risk assessment that can be used in both underwriting and rating at the time of quote. Using insights into a roof’s susceptibility to severe convective storms and the potential severity of those claims, insurers can accurately segment properties by risk level.

ZestyAI’s new models build on the market-leading success of the company’s wildfire assessment product, Z-FIRE, which has been a key piece in addressing wildfire risk in Western states of the U.S. With these additional climate risk products, ZestyAI now addresses at least one peril for every home and business in North America.

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