--- title: The Risks of Hazard Blog | Intermap | Insurance Underwriting description: Insurance Underwriting | A blog that shows the power of location-based solutions in the world of insurance underwriting & risk management. --- [Investors](https://www.intermap.com/investors-2018-0) |[ Partners](https://www.intermap.com/partners-2018-0) |  [WebStore](https://store.intermap.com/MapShop.aspx?GeoLocation=World) [![Intermap Technologies Inc.](https://www.intermap.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Intermap%20Logo%202019%20-%20White.png?width=1656&height=277&name=Intermap%20Logo%202019%20-%20White.png "Intermap Technologies Inc.")](http://intermap.com) # [The Risks of Hazard](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog) ## [By the Numbers: A Closer Look at Risk Scoring](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/2018/09/by-the-numbers-a-closer-look-at-risk-scoring) Posted by [Ivan Maddox](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/author/ivan-maddox) on Sep 19, 2018 8:00:00 AM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) [![](//www.intermap.com/hs-fs/hub/395294/file-2511057490-png/Blog/2015-02-17_10_35_48-Risk_Scoring_-_Comparison_%282%29_%28Read-Only%29_[Compatibility_Mode]_-_Microsoft_Word.png) ](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/2018/09/by-the-numbers-a-closer-look-at-risk-scoring) [As previously discussed](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/2015/02/risk-scoring-improves-underwriting-4-benefits), risk scoring is a powerful way to evaluate risk by including disparate and complex datasets, business rules, and experience — all prioritized and weighted — in an algorithm. While it’s not a new idea, it is underutilized. Therefore, I think it's worth looking at a few examples of how it's done. (Since it’s a vast subject, this post will concentrate on [flood risk scoring](https://www.goinsitepro.com/custom-risk?hsCtaTracking=608161de-c3cc-474c-9c31-db88dfe4bbd7%7Cf05a1895-2af2-459f-8bb8-3727376b1a49).) [Read More](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/2018/09/by-the-numbers-a-closer-look-at-risk-scoring) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/2018/09/by-the-numbers-a-closer-look-at-risk-scoring#comments-listing) Topics: [Insurance Underwriting](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/insurance-underwriting), [Risk Management](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/risk-management), [Flood Risk](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/flood-risk), [Risk Scoring](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/risk-scoring) ## [Plug The Leak: Reduce Underwriting Leakage With Better Data](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/mind-the-gap-reduce-underwriting-leakage-with-better-data) Posted by [Ivan P. Maddox](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/author/ivan-p-maddox) on Jun 19, 2018 4:03:34 PM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) [![](https://www.intermap.com/hs-fs/hub/395294/file-2351590928-jpg/Blog/Athenium_Photo.jpg) ](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/mind-the-gap-reduce-underwriting-leakage-with-better-data) Not only is insurance an industry that is based on a general inability to predict what is going to happen, it is a hyper-competitive industry in which the winners are those who can best predict the unknowable…or at least be less wrong than their competition. Insurance underwriting is the actual process of pricing what is unknowable, and is necessarily performed with rigorous processes underpinned with vast amounts of data. However, underwriting is never perfect, and the gap between actual underwriting and perfection is called ***underwriting leakage*.** [Read More](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/mind-the-gap-reduce-underwriting-leakage-with-better-data) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/mind-the-gap-reduce-underwriting-leakage-with-better-data#comments-listing) Topics: [Insurance Underwriting](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/insurance-underwriting), [Risk Management](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/risk-management), [Insurance Protection Gap](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/insurance-protection-gap) ## [If everyone uses the same risk model, is it still useful?](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/2018/04/if-everyone-uses-same-risk-model-is-it-still-useful) Posted by [Ivan Maddox](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/author/ivan-maddox) on Apr 4, 2018 8:03:01 AM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) [![](https://www.intermap.com/hubfs/Blog/iStock_000049591616_Full-985396-edited.jpg) ](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/2018/04/if-everyone-uses-same-risk-model-is-it-still-useful) One of the recurrent themes of this blog is to explore the usefulness and limitations of risk models. This post explores the implications of the widespread — in some cases, universal — use of these models. Is there a limit to a model’s usefulness if everyone is using it? How can a model’s limitations be overcome? When a peril is well modeled, and that model is comprehensively applied throughout a market by both the carriers and re-insurers, it becomes very difficult to differentiate coverage because everyone has priced the risk similarly. The implications of this blanket usage begin to manifest when nothing happens for a while; i.e., when no significant catastrophe fulfills the model’s predictions. The capacity to cover the expected loss is collected by everyone, and with no claims to release the capital, the market gets soft. Competition becomes tighter, and it becomes necessary to look for new markets, or entirely new activities, to maintain a constant level of premium. [This recent article from Intelligent Insurer](http://www.intelligentinsurer.com/article/diversity-amid-a-changing-market) explores this phenomenon in the current reinsurance market. The big boys are moving to specialty reinsurance and even primary insurance amid a very soft market. [Naïve capital](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/2015/02/underwriting-natural-catastrophe-coverage) accumulates and the only outlet is a catastrophe that is unexpected — i.e., unmodeled – to release the excess capacity through claims that exceed predictions. [Read More](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/2018/04/if-everyone-uses-same-risk-model-is-it-still-useful) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/2018/04/if-everyone-uses-same-risk-model-is-it-still-useful#comments-listing) Topics: [Insurance Underwriting](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/insurance-underwriting), [Risk Management](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/risk-management), [Other Risk Models](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/other-risk-models) ## [Geocoding – Because You Have To](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/2017/08/geocoding-because-you-have-to) Posted by [Ivan Maddox](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/author/ivan-maddox) on Aug 8, 2017 1:03:26 PM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) [![](https://www.intermap.com/hs-fs/hub/395294/file-2384656449.jpg) ](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/2017/08/geocoding-because-you-have-to) As [risk assessments](https://www.intermap.com/software/insitepro/flood-risk-assessment) get better and better, the limiting factor on how well they work is almost always geocoding. A long time ago, we took a look at [geocoding for underwriting](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/geocoding-101), which discussed how important it is. Well, everything in early 2015 that was true and valid remains true and valid. [Read More](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/2017/08/geocoding-because-you-have-to) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/2017/08/geocoding-because-you-have-to#comments-listing) Topics: [Insurance Underwriting](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/insurance-underwriting), [Effective Underwriting](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/effective-underwriting) ## [What would an Underwriter Say If…?](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/2017/08/what-would-an-underwriter-say-if-) Posted by [Ivan Maddox](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/author/ivan-maddox) on Aug 1, 2017 10:24:17 AM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) [![](https://www.intermap.com/hs-fs/hub/395294/file-1401714572.png) ](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/2017/08/what-would-an-underwriter-say-if-) What would an underwriter say if they heard that a monumental amount of unwritten premium was about to become available in a few months? This is something property underwriters are contemplating as the NFIP re-authorization approaches. But is that the right question? [Read More](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/2017/08/what-would-an-underwriter-say-if-) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/2017/08/what-would-an-underwriter-say-if-#comments-listing) Topics: [Insurance Underwriting](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/insurance-underwriting), [Underwriting Profit](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/underwriting-profit), [Effective Underwriting](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/effective-underwriting) [All posts](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/all) [Next](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/insurance-underwriting/page/2) ## [The Risks of Hazard Blog](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog)   [![rss-feed](https://www.intermap.com/hs-fs/hub/395294/file-2218415117-png/images/rss-feed.png?width=27&name=rss-feed.png)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/rss.xml) Welcome to The Risks of Hazard, brought to you by Intermap Technologies®. From the latest industry news and trends, to insight from thought leaders around the globe, stay tuned for a variety of content aimed at helping you better understand the role of location-based intelligence in the world of insurance underwriting and risk assessment. To see how Intermap delivers analytics tailored to your underwriting, visit our [InsitePro](https://www.intermap.com/software/insitepro) page. ### Subscribe to the Risks of Hazard blog! ### Posts by Topic - [Flood Insurance (64)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/flood-insurance) - [Insurance Underwriting (62)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/insurance-underwriting) - [Flood Risk (43)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/flood-risk) - [Risk Management (42)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/risk-management) - [Insurance Protection Gap (32)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/insurance-protection-gap) - [Private Flood (29)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/private-flood) - [Flood Modeling (28)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/flood-modeling) - [Property Insurance (26)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/property-insurance) - [Natural Hazard Risk (25)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/natural-hazard-risk) - [Natural Catastrophe (24)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/natural-catastrophe) - [Floods (23)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/floods) - [InsitePro (21)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/insitepro) - [Risk Scoring (17)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/risk-scoring) - [Wildfire (17)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/wildfire) - [Insurance Software (16)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/insurance-software) - [Insurance Technology (16)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/insurance-technology) - [Effective Underwriting (15)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/effective-underwriting) - [Earthquake (12)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/earthquake) - [Other Risk Models (11)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/other-risk-models) - [NFIP (10)](https://www.intermap.com/risks-of-hazard-blog/topic/nfip) ©2026 Intermap Technologies®. 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