JBA Risk Management launches first probabilistic global flood model

JBA Risk Management has launched a probabilistic global flood model that insurers and reinsurers can use to simulate river and surface water flooding at 30m resolution worldwide.

The Global Flood Model not only fills gaps left by currently available catastrophe models, but, for the first time, enables consistent comparison of loss across country and continental borders, according to JBA.

Stephen Hutchings, head of modelling at JBA, explained its benefits: “Firstly, it presents users with a probabilistic flood model for any country and thereby eliminates the coverage gap. This is a huge step forward. Secondly, the system is unprecedented in its flexibility, enabling users to customise the model to create the view of risk most relevant to their portfolio.”

The new model is underpinned by JBA’s modelling technology, FLY, which permits risk quantification for any location around the world and removes the need to embed assumptions.

According to JBA, this new approach enables users to investigate and customise every aspect of the model when analysing a portfolio, including the data, parameters and assumptions.

The model runs within the Oasis Loss Modelling Framework and is available via JBA consultancy services or via in-house installation.

Dickie Whitaker, chief executive officer of Oasis, commented: “JBA Risk Management has taken a bold new approach in overcoming the challenges of creating a global flood model. This is a significant development which we hope will be transformative for the industry. Its compatibility with Oasis is a key benefit, making the model easily accessible to the market, and allowing users to model other perils alongside flood.”

Jane Toothill, director at JBA, added: “Gaps in global coverage, often in important flood-prone regions, have proved costly for (re)insurers and the market has long been demanding consistent and transparent global data. We knew we had to think differently in order to overcome the challenges of creating a global flood model and JBA’s FLY was the technological breakthrough we needed. This is a really exciting new direction for the modelling industry.”

Mark Dugdale