Risk Management Solutions, the Newark, Calif.-based modeling firm, announced today it has acquired HailCalc Europe, a manufacturer of hail loss simulation software for Europe.
No terms of the transaction were released.
The HailCalc model was built by a team of atmospheric scientists in conjunction with Swiss Re and has been actively used to assess hail risk in Europe since 2004, said RMS.
J?rg M?ller, vice president of RMS Zurich, said, “There is an increasing demand for hail modeling in Europe, and together with recent and upcoming releases of new flood and earthquake models, RMS clients will be able to model key drivers of loss across most of continental Europe.”
During summer months in Europe, RMS said, damaging hail produced by severe thunderstorms is a significant regional hazard causing serious, though localized damage that is often underestimated.
Insurers are widely exposed to hail losses because cover is typically included within windstorm policies and most fully-comprehensive motor policies across Europe, Mr. Muller noted.
According to RMS calculations, a catastrophic 1984 Munich hailstorm generated more than $976 million of insured losses in today's values, of which more than 50 percent was attributed to auto damage.
HailCalc Europe originated from research into the relationship between radar measurements and hail losses in Switzerland in 1999.
The developers collaborated with Swiss Re to extend the methodology across eight European countries, blending their methodology with Swiss Re's large volume of claims data to derive damage functions.
RMS said the acquisition of HailCalc Europe complements the company's Europe Windstorm Model, which was upgraded and expanded in 2006 to include 12 countries as well as a separate high-frequency component to capture wind-related losses from severe thunderstorms and downbursts in addition to extra-tropical cyclones.
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