PERILS enters into strategic alliance with CatIQ to provide industry loss data for Canada

PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides industry-wide catastrophe insurance data, announced on Wednesday that it has entered into a strategic alliance with Toronto-based Catastrophe Indices & Quantification Inc. (CatIQ) to provide industry loss data for Canada.

With immediate effect, PERILS will make available via the PERILS Industry Loss Index Service industry loss data for any natural catastrophe event in Canada causing a market loss of $300 million or more, said a joint press release from both organizations. These nat cats include all perils that Canada is exposed to, such as earthquakes, floods, various types of storms, wildfires and volcanic eruptions.

The loss data will be made available by Canadian province and by the following lines of business: private property, commercial property and motor hull (auto). Loss reporting for qualifying Canadian events (those with losses of $300 million or more) will follow the standard PERILS reporting schedule – the first loss report made available six weeks after the event, followed by a minimum of three updates three, six and 12 months after the event.

The release noted that the loss data provided by PERILS will be compiled by CatIQ, which collects event loss data on catastrophic events from the “overwhelming majority” of affected insurers in the Canadian market. CatIQ is guided by a 10-member advisory board, which includes senior representatives from three major Canadian primary writers and one global reinsurer on a rotation basis, as well as permanent representatives from Aon Benfield, Guy Carpenter, JLT Re, the Insurance Bureau of Canada, the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction and Environment and Climate Change Canada.

With Canada, the PERILS Industry Loss Index Service covers 16 territories. The other 15 territories are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

The release noted that the loss index service is widely used for industry loss-based risk transfer products, such as industry loss warranties and insurance-linked securities. To date, more than US$14 billion of PERILS data-based risk limits has been placed in more than 200 individual transactions.

Luzi Hitz, CEO of PERILS, said in the release that the organization is “extremely pleased” to announce its partnership with CatIQ. “The firm’s excellent market reputation has enabled it to secure the support of most of the Canadian general insurance sector. Providing CatIQ data through the PERILS Industry Loss Index Service fits perfectly with our mission to increase data availability for the insurance industry. It also reinforces our ability to provide a one-stop shop for state-of-the-art industry loss triggers, thereby helping to increase the efficiency of this specialized risk transfer market,” Hitz said.

Joel Baker, founder and CEO of CatIQ, added that “we are thrilled to be working with the esteemed PERILS team to bring CatIQ’s analytics and loss indices to the wider risk transfer market. We consider this a win-win-win for ourselves, PERILS and the markets we serve. The CatIQ team looks forward to working closely with our new partner, PERILS, to bring additional innovative solutions to the global market.”