EQECAT Upgrades German Flood Model

EQECAT, Inc. has released its upgraded German Flood model, part of its EuroFlood™ platform, which it said would enable “the European and international insurance industry to manage more effectively exposures from river and non-river floods in every postal code across the nation.”

EQECAT’s new model enhances its capabilities to assess potential financial flood loss parameters in Germany, which, said James Webb, EQECAT European product manager, “have been under-estimated, resulting in unexpectedly high loss levels. Moreover, with exposures to floods increasing, the EQECAT model provides the industry with an appropriate tool to assist with accumulation control and underwriting decision-making.”

The upgraded model, as part of EuroFlood product, “represents the second generation of the original DACH Flood model development, which was sponsored by Guy Carpenter,” said the bulletin. “This subsequent release for Germany flood is an EQECAT initiative in recognition of the need to include other flood types and to expand the territorial scope of cover.

“The EQECAT Germany Flood model includes more than 30,000 events, and takes into account time-of-the-year-dependent base flow, antecedent precipitation, soil-dependent infiltration rates, snowmelt, and defense-structure breaching probabilities.

“The enhanced EQECAT Germany Flood model is a fully probabilistic tool, enabling insurers to assess building asset exposure to almost all flood types across Germany. It covers the major rivers, such as the Rhine, Elbe, Danube, Oder, Weser and Ems, along with an additional 100,000 kilometers of tributaries of those rivers and other river networks, as well as non-riverine flooding.”

“The non-riverine component was specially developed using a separate hydro-dynamic methodology,” Mr. Webb emphasized. “This component of the model is critical because that kind of flooding can account for significant losses. In addition, the model has been validated by EQECAT against the most current scientific data, and by external flood specialists.”