This agreement marks an exciting next step for the multi-year relationship between MIS and CIERA.
McKenzie Intelligence Services (MIS) and the California Insurance Emergency Response Association (CIERA) announces an initial one-year partnership aimed at improving the coordination of the insurance industry's response to major catastrophic events in California.
Between 1980 and 2024, California experienced over 50 events with losses exceeding $1 billion, primarily from wildfires, flooding, drought, and earthquakes. In the last five years, eight such events have accounted for nearly 21% of the state's total economic losses during the past 44 years. The recent devastating LA wildfires, considered among the worst disasters to ever affect the US, further underscore California's vulnerability.
CIERA’s mission is to enhance the insurance industry's ability to respond to catastrophes. With significant operational challenges in disaster response, particularly in the insurance sector, effective coordination is essential to help affected communities recover. One of the key barriers to this is the overwhelming complexity and availability of data sources, which this partnership aims to overcome.
In partnership with MIS, CIERA aims to create a centralised, standardised operating model for insurance carriers and loss adjusters to ensure the right resources are deployed at the right time, guided by state, federal, and local authorities, as well as other stakeholders.
MIS will provide CIERA members with detailed, one-stop verified data following major events. This will enhance their ability to respond efficiently, improving service to policyholders. MIS will also offer additional verified data on road closures, power outages, emergency declarations, and more.
Forbes McKenzie, Founder and CEO of MIS, said: “We are thrilled to build on our partnership with CIERA, which marks a significant step in enhancing the insurance industry’s preparedness and response to California’s unique challenges in disaster recovery.”
The organisations have collaborated previously, with MIS supporting CIERA at its last two Annual Meetings. MIS’s Global Events Observer (GEO) platform, designed to deliver reliable post-catastrophe data, has become a key tool in the Lloyd’s of London disaster response process since its 2021 launch. GEO has covered over 200 global catastrophic events, including wildfires, earthquakes, flooding, and hurricanes.
At the CIERA Annual Meeting in February, MIS will lead an exercise based on the HayWired scenario, developed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and tailored to the insurance industry. GEO will be central to the exercise, enabling CIERA members to gain hands-on experience with the platform, in preparation for real events.
Regardless of whether CIERA is activated during a specific event, MIS will grant all CIERA members access to California-focused event assessments within GEO. CIERA members wishing to expand GEO’s use to assess national or global risks will also benefit from an exclusive discount.
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The California Insurance Emergency Response Association (CIERA) is a new 501 (c)(6) non-profit, industry-benefit organization, with a mission to provide the California property and casualty insurance industry with resources and support, in order to enhance its effectiveness in fulfilling policyholder commitments following catastrophic disasters, particularly major earthquakes.
Members represent insurers, reinsurers, claim adjusters, and engineering and catastrophe response professionals and organisations.
About McKenzie Intelligence Services
McKenzie Intelligence Services (MIS) provides immediate post event, multi-sourced data and the military grade intelligence that creates dynamic and three-dimensional loss information. Using its proprietary Saas, geospatial platform, the Global Events Observer (GEO), MIS systematically tracks and responds to catastrophes. GEO has the ability to host a vastly broad dataset, including satellite and drone imagery, radar, mobile phone, ground, and sensor data. This raw data, it is vetted by trained and experienced former military intelligence analysts to ensure accuracy and then translated into something actionable, which means when clients receive the intelligence, they can rely upon it immediately rather than having to undertake additional work. MIS empower decision making in real time, vital in the immediate aftermath of a major event, whether from natural catastrophes or man-made conflicts, all involving multi- peril coverage.
For more information, go to: www.mckenzieintelligence.com
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Simon Hayes, MD
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