FloodFlash stakes claim for 'smart quote' as "paradigm shift" in mass market parametrics

According to the parametric insurance technology company the new feature brings a wealth of insights to help brokers and clients select the right cover.

Parametric insurance enables clients to select a pay-out amount for their policy, and a trigger depth. When flooding reaches a selected trigger depth, they are paid the full claim value.

Smart quote takes the inputs that brokers submit on behalf of their clients and produces a tailored quote, FloodFlash explained.

Each quote includes trigger depths and pay-out values based on the characteristics of the client’s property and business, as well as insights on how the portal arrived at those values. It considers many inputs, including occupancy type, square footage, building materials and more.

London-headquartered FloodFlash was founded in 2017 by CEO, Adam Rimmer, and chief scientist, Ian Bartholomew.

“The FloodFlash smart quote system is a paradigm shift in mass-market parametric insurance,” said Rimmer.

He told Insurance Age: “It allows brokers and customers to have guidance on the options that will work best for their business. It means that the pay-outs they will get from the parametric policy will match their losses really tightly when the storm comes. And that’s important because it means the business survives.”

Rimmer added that FloodFlash had been working on this new feature for around six months.

Automatic

The new set-up will work automatically for brokers and the smart quote process will “look even more like a sort of quote submission for a normal traditional policy”, he confirmed.

Rimmer continued: “They answer a few more questions about the building, like number of stories, what the building is made from and what type of business operates there.

“Then the outcome from that is when that instant parametric quote is produced and shared with the broker, instead of just being based on one default for everybody, which is what we used to use before, it is now a specific set of triggers and pay-outs that make sense for that business.”

The clients, according to FloodFlash, will be paid the full claim “typically within 48 hours.”

FloodFlash’s Henry Bellwood commented: “Brokers and their clients will always know more about their property than any model could. Smart quote uses the science behind the models to give brokers a head-start in their efforts to get the best cover for their clients.”

$15m venture capital raise 

FloodFlash completed a venture capital raise of $15m (£12m) in February which has been partly used for the new feature.

The raise was led by Chicago-based Buoyant Ventures with San Francisco-based fund Munich Re Ventures also featuring as an investor. 

Alongside developing new features, Rimmer detailed the raise was also being used to hire staff and on launching in new markets.

He said: “The US is hiring a team over here. Ultimately, the UK is fantastic. It’s arguably the best place in the world to source insurance capital. But the US has the biggest flood under insurance problem of any country on Earth. And for us to be able to help more people recover from catastrophe, that is where we need to be.”

Growth

Rimmer commented that FloodFlash’s growth was “accelerating as we add the US and FloodFlash plus into our scope as well”.

Bartholomew added: “I couldn’t be prouder of the team that brought the smart quote feature to life.

“Over time machine-learning and AI capabilities will help smart quote learn about real business needs and translate that into more accurate calculations for brokers and their clients. This is only the beginning.”

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