LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., May 21, 2007 - Pitney Bowes MapInfo, the leading global provider of location intelligence, today introduced the Risk Data Suite™ for underwriting, rating and portfolio risk management. Based on historical information (updated annually) on weather and natural disaster-related occurrences, the Risk Data Suite is a source of robust data that enables property and casualty underwriters, actuaries and risk managers to make better decisions in areas such as: underwriting policy analyses and rating; custom rating territory creation and maintenance; credit and risk scoring; portfolio risk aggregation and realistic disaster scenario analysis; and claims planning and preparedness.
The Pitney Bowes MapInfo comprehensive weather peril and natural disaster database consists of four individual bundles with high-definition data and aggregate exposure grids. The four bundles include:
- Earthquake Bundle – provides a historical record of earthquakes since 1492, enabling insurers to calculate rates based on proximity to fault lines. Data includes information on fault lines, fault zones, earthquake epicenters and aggregate exposure grids.
- Weather Bundle – includes geographic data on occurrences of hurricanes, hail storms, tornados, windstorms and lightning based on the location, movement and exposure of a single event, enabling users to more realistically model portfolio disaster scenarios or to evaluate individual policy exposures.
- Windpool Bundle – three layers of data feature maps of Florida wind speed and wind-borne debris regions, as well as State Windpool Eligibility Zones to help insurers make property, wind or hail insurance available to qualified applicants who are unable to secure such insurance in the normal insurance marketplace.
- Mass Movement Bundle – the initial release of Risk Data Suite features maps of volcanic hazard zones for Hawaii, dividing it into zones based on the probability of coverage by lava flows.
“While weather-related disasters can happen at any time and are unavoidable, it is essential that insurance companies are armed with a complete and accurate picture of potential weather perils based on past occurrences. This is exactly what the Risk Data Suite delivers,” said Craig Bedell, director of Global Insurance for Pitney Bowes MapInfo. “This data set, coupled with our location intelligence applications, provides a powerful analytic tool for critical insurance decisions in underwriting, portfolio risk, realistic disaster scenario analysis, and claims planning and preparedness.”
The data, available on a state-by-state basis, is compatible with the Pitney Bowes MapInfo complete line of risk data, geocoding and mapping applications, such as MapMarker® Plus, ParcelPrecision™, MapInfo Professional® and the Envinsa® enterprise location platform. This data is also available via Web service calls to the MapInfo Envinsa Online Services.
The Risk Data Suite is currently available. Pricing varies depending on the number of bundles, coverage area and number of users. Visit www.mapinfo.com/RDS for more information.
In addition, at booth #1309, Pitney Bowes Group 1 Software will demonstrate its capabilities to help insurers cleanse, validate and parse their enterprise location data. Together with Pitney Bowes MapInfo, the company provides the insurance industry with unparalleled depth of industry domain expertise and new capabilities to enable better business decisions in areas such as underwriting/rating, actuarial, claims management, fraud prevention, sales, marketing and distribution.
About Pitney Bowes MapInfo
Pitney Bowes MapInfo, part of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI), is the leading global provider of location intelligence solutions, integrating software, data and services to provide greater value from location-based information and drive more insightful decisions for businesses and government organizations around the world. The company’s solutions are available in multiple languages through a network of strategic partners and distribution channels in 60 countries. Visit www.mapinfo.com and www.pb.com for more information.
Of Note
This press release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties. Any statement not a statement of historical fact is a forward-looking statement, including without limitation statements concerning demand for and benefits of Pitney Bowes MapInfo products and integration of its products with existing solutions. Actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those factors contained in the Company’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the heading “Risk Factors.” Pitney Bowes MapInfo takes no responsibility to update any forward-looking statements.