Flood Risk in Insurance: GeoSmart Director Mark Fermor at InsTech 

GeoSmart Director Mark Fermor was invited to speak at an event organised by insurance community Instech this month.

The event explored solutions for when insurance professionals such as Risk Managers, Insurers, Brokers and MGAs have acess to too much data – or too little.

The evening was supported by Guidewire, one of the leading platforms for creating seamless connections and streamlining decision-making.

Mark explains why in many cases the insurance sector’s data is ‘too cold’ because it misses the role of groundwater driving many of the most damaging flood events, which causes typically disproportionately higher losses than other forms of flooding.

In the below 10 minute clip, Mark talks through the following key points:

• The important part Groundwater plays in flood risk models.
• Science of flood outside of Insurance sector, how data is used.
• Flood risk data applied to asset valuation.
• Climate future risk. The different perspectives of the insurer and asset owner, and the need for asset managers to take this on board today.

Despite the significant risk that groundwater poses in the UK, it is much less widely modelled than other types of flooding. Mark also featured as a guest on Instech’s podcast earlier this year to discuss the hidden risks of groundwater flooding to properties.

At the end of 2023, we relased new data following a decade of development, which revealed the full risk of flooding in Great Britain (GB) and shows the complex role of groundwater in context for the first time ever.

GeoSmart provides research, modelling and reporting to the insurance, financial, public and environmental sectors. Our groundbreaking FloodSmart Analytics tool maps the impact and costs associated with groundwater and as a result, is challenging the way we look at flooding risks across the UK. 

Get in touch if you would like to discuss our services.