Case Studies

Wildfires have caused several insurers to leave the state of California or pause the writing of new policies. This crisis left many homeowners without insurance or with very limited options.

• “Farmers Insurance today announced it has integrated ZestyAI's wildfire risk scoring model (Z-FIRE™) into its homeowners insurance underwriting processes --- selectively expanding opportunities for coverage for residences located in certain wildfire-risk areas.” (Farmer Insurance Press Release)

• “Thousands of California residents who only can buy homeowners policies through the state’s last-resort insurance program will now be eligible for Farmers Insurance coverage.” (Wall Street Journal)

• “With Farmers’ promise to write at least 30,000 new policies for homeowners with higher wildlife risk using this new tool, we are glad to see the pendulum swinging in the other direction,” said Michael Soller, a deputy commissioner with California’s Department of Insurance. (Wall Street Journal)

• “In the Golden State alone, eight of the state’s 10-most destructive fires have occurred within the past five years, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CalFire. These fires have caused over $25 billion in insured wildfire-related losses

• “William Pitts, a senior assistant vice president at Rhode Island-based Amica Mutual Insurance Company, says that after the company took on heavy losses in the wake of the Tubbs Fire, it began to re-evaluate its wildfire risk models.” (Forbes)

• “As they analyzed their losses, they discovered that CoreLogic had flagged some properties as being low risk to wildfire that actually were not. Amica switched to ZestyAI and its Z-FIRE™ system.”

• “If Z-Fire was used to completely re-underwrite Amica’s entire California portfolio, in 2020 Amica would have prevented 95% of its wildfire losses in the state,” said William Pitts, Senior Assistant Vice President, at Amica.

Read more in Forbes.

A legacy book consists of the accumulation, over several years, of various sub-portfolios with different risk profiles based on different underwriting frameworks. A top-10 national carrier approached ZestyAI with a legacy book filled with properties of unknown risk and a worsening loss ratio.

Without any investment in IT resources, ZestyAI and the carrier began a three-stage process: defining the scope of the review, assessing the risk of the book, and acting on the high-risk policies.

Thanks to this simple workflow, the insurer was able to isolate the riskiest properties in their legacy book, assign the appropriate action to address this risk, and assure the continued profitability of their book. The carrier improved its action rate to approximately 60% on manually reviewed properties. 

Historically, wildfire has been challenging to model; traditional models and Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps tend to lack the granularity needed to assess risk accurately. That not only leaves insurers with major losses but also affects their relationship with re-insurers. 

• Multiple rate filings that make use of Z-FIRE™, which was independently reviewed and evaluated by Aon’s catastrophe risk experts, have been approved by the California Department of Insurance. 

• “Our collaboration with ZestyAI is part of Aon’s technological evolution to deliver new products that meet clients’ needs today and tomorrow, in a transparent and efficient way.” - George deMenocal CEO of Aon’s U.S. Reinsurance Solutions

• Z-FIRE™ enhances insurers’ risk selection and rate setting, while understanding the impact of climate change on wildfires and in turn their portfolios.