Opterrix and ICEYE: Revolutionizing Hurricane Response for Insurers

The increasing frequency and intensity of hurricanes pose a significant challenge for the insurance industry. Traditional methods of damage assessment often fall short in the chaotic aftermath of a major storm, leading to delays, increased costs, and frustrated policyholders. But what if insurers could gain a clear, actionable picture of damage within hours, regardless of weather conditions?

Enter the powerful combination of Opterrix's industry-leading risk intelligence platform and proprietary weather data, paired with ICEYE's revolutionary Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. This collaboration is a true game-changer for hurricane event response, empowering insurers with an unparalleled level of insight and efficiency.

ICEYE flood depth data from Hurricane Milton, over Palm Bay, FL, with locations and metrics of impacted policies.

The Power of Opterrix: Proactive Insights and Precision

Opterrix is already a trusted name in risk intelligence, providing insurers with comprehensive insights for risk selection, exposure management, and claims preparation. Our platform leverages advanced machine learning models and proprietary weather data to:

• Improve Risk Selection: Understand and manage property-level accumulation and aggregate limits, mitigating losses from natural disasters before they even occur.

• Optimize Exposure Management: Gain real-time portfolio intelligence to understand and manage risk distributions and prevent the binding of at-risk policies.

• Enhance Claims Preparedness and Response: Receive intelligent notifications, conduct street-level analysis with post-event insights, and leverage claims predictions to proactively allocate resources. Our proprietary weather data provides address-specific historical storm assessments, offering comprehensive insights into hazard and event severity.

However, the "fog of war" that often descends after a hurricane, with widespread power outages, impassable roads, and persistent cloud cover, has historically presented a significant hurdle to immediate and accurate damage assessment. This is where ICEYE's SAR data steps in.

ICEYE's SAR Data: Seeing Through the Storm

ICEYE operates the world's largest constellation of SAR satellites. Unlike traditional optical satellites, SAR technology can image through clouds, smoke, and even at night, providing uninterrupted visibility regardless of environmental conditions. Leveraging this capability with multi-layered analysis, ICEYE’s Hurricane Solution delivers:

• Observed Wind and Flood Impact Data: ICEYE provides high-resolution data that shows observed flooding and wind damage, covering the hurricane-force wind swath of landfalling hurricanes. Damage releases occur within 24 hours of landfall, and flood releases occur within 24 hours of the flood peak. This includes a 30-meter resolution heatmap with damage scores and building-level flood depth layers.

• Near Real-Time Situational Awareness: Insurers can get a clear picture of what happened, days ahead of when traditional aerial surveys or ground crews can safely operate. This allows for immediate identification of severely impacted areas.

• Comprehensive Event Coverage: SAR satellites cover vast geographic areas, allowing insurers to assess damage across tens of thousands of square miles in a single pass.

• Support for Wind vs. Flood Triage: With combined datasets, insurers can quickly identify complex claims involving both wind and flood damage, aiding in more accurate adjuster allocation.
  
  

The Unbeatable Combination: Opterrix + ICEYE

With the combination of Opterrix’s advanced risk intelligence platform and ICEYE’s cutting-edge SAR-powered Hurricane Solution, Insurers gain an unprecedented advantage in hurricane event response:

1. Rapid, Accurate Damage Assessment: Opterrix can instantly overlay policyholder portfolios onto ICEYE's observed wind and flood damage maps. This means insurers can pinpoint affected properties and assess damage severity while the storm is still active or immediately after landfall, bypassing the delays caused by cloud cover or darkness. 

   
   ICEYE wind damage score from Hurricane Milton, with locations and metrics of impacted policies. 

2. Proactive Claims Triage and Resource Allocation: With near real-time, granular insights into damage, insurers can prioritize claims, identify large commercial losses, and strategically deploy field adjusters to the most impacted areas. This allows for a proactive rather than reactive approach to claims, significantly improving efficiency and reducing response times.  

   
   ICEYE flood extent data from Hurricane Helene, with impacted policy locations colorized by flood depth, and nearby adjuster locations.

3. Enhanced Policyholder Experience: By having a clear understanding of the damage early on, insurers can initiate proactive communication with policyholders, offer faster support payments, and streamline the claims process. This leads to increased customer satisfaction during a stressful time.

   
   Opterrix interface for Policyholder Notifications and an example of a proactive message to the policyholder.

4. Reduced Loss Adjustment Expenses: Minimizing the need for initial physical inspections in widespread areas enables remote validation and triage, resulting in significantly lower operational costs associated with post-catastrophe response

5. Improved Fraud Prevention: Providing a reliable baseline for damage, enabling the more effective identification and prevention of fraudulent claims.

The synergy between Opterrix and ICEYE is more than just a technological advancement; it represents a paradigm shift in hurricane event response for the insurance industry. It empowers insurers to move from estimation to observation, from reactivity to proactivity, and ultimately, to deliver a superior experience for their policyholders when it matters most. 

The future of hurricane response is here, and it's powered by the combined intelligence of Opterrix and ICEYE. This is a true game-changer.

To experience this game-changing solution firsthand, schedule a live demo today and see how Opterrix and ICEYE can transform your hurricane response strategy, improve efficiency, and enhance policyholder satisfaction.