CREJ

Page 20 — Property Management Quarterly — October 2020 www.crej.com Vendor Trends I n the last decade, hailstorms have caused over $19 billion in damages globally each year, with more than $5 billion in insured damage taking place in Colorado alone. Located in the heart of “hail alley,” Colorado’s Front Range receives the highest frequency of large hail in North America and most of the world. With a hail season from mid- April to mid-September, hailstorms generate massive numbers of claims each year. According to an April National Insurance Crime Bureau Hail Report, Colorado had the second- highest number of hail claims in the U.S. from 2017 to 2019 (380,066 in total). In fact, four Colorado cit- ies make up the top 10 cities in the U.S. with the greatest number of hail claims: Denver, Colorado Springs, Greely and Lakewood. The last few years have had Colorado experiencing record hailstorms, an unfortunate trend that creates major problems for property, crops and assets. However, due to the nature of hail, there is no evidence following a storm to definitively know what occurred. There’s no trace of the size of hailstones, nor the duration of the storm. The only evidence that remains is whatever visible damage is left. While this makes fraudu- lent hail claims an issue, it’s also challenging to process hail claims quickly as an adjuster is required to inspect and assess damage. Inspired by the problem hail causes to the insurance claim process, we developed a technol- ogy that collects empirical data for insurers that captures unique hail impacts at the property level. Called Eyewitness, the remote sensor empowers the insurance industry with real-time, property- level, ground weather knowledge. The sensor captures unique hail data, which can be accessed from anywhere via the cloud. This data is used by insurance companies to process claims in a matter of days instead of weeks or months, mak- ing the claims process more effi- cient and precise. n 2020 Colorado hail season: The story captured on one sensor . The sensors were deployed during the recent hailstorm that caused signif- icant damage in Colorado Springs on Aug. 5. Two years prior, another destructive hailstorm struck the city that resulted in the death of five zoo animals and over $170 million of insured damages in the same area. The stats on the table reflect the data captured on one sensor, which provided insurance companies the nuanced data needed to process hail damage claims quickly. n Protecting people, businesses and property. Colorado is rising up from another hail season, and this summer was no exception to the damage that hailstorms cause. With devastating hailstorms nearly a guarantee every year, property own- ers need a viable solution to faster claims payout process. Technologies like this can use GPS and special algorithms to record the time, loca- tion and size of each hail strike, streamlining the claims process in a matter of days instead of weeks or months. s Hailstorms leave risk for major financial loss Lucas Schiff Co-founder and CEO, Hailios Data captured on one sensor during an Aug. 5 hailstorm in Colorado Springs, which provided insurance companies the nuanced data needed to process hail damage claims quickly.