PCS launches industry loss index for Latin America

Property Claim Services (PCS), a division of Verisk Analytics, has expanded its industry loss index to Latin America, enabling the firm to provide full coverage from Canada to Argentina.

PCS LatAm will provide independent estimates on events with industry insured losses of at least $500 million across all natural and man-made perils.

The firm explained that the 2019 riots in Chile led to significant insurance and reinsurance activity and subsequent client demand for a robust, reliable, and independent industry loss index.

“Our clients came to us and said they wanted a PCS solution for Latin America, and they committed to supporting us in developing the loss-reporting platform and driving adoption,” said Tom Johansmeyer, head of PCS. “Because of the ongoing effort we invest in our relationships and the global reinsurance market as a whole, we’ve become the first stop for companies that need to understand risk and losses in regions and classes of business around the world.”

Ted Gregory, director of global PCS operations, added: “Client demand for loss information from these recent events in the region contributed heavily to our early launch of PCS LatAm. We had planned to launch the platform later this year, but through close and continued discussions of the market, we understood just how acute the need for independent loss estimates had become. With that in mind, we shifted our focus, as a team, to PCS LatAm to be able to meet an urgent need for our clients. We’re excited to be continuing our mission to expand our independent and globally trusted services.”

The PCS expansion into Latin America goes live with five historical events of at least $500 million, as well as the 2019 Chilean riots, which PCS will continue to report as a developing industry loss.

PCS said it may review historical losses below the $500 million threshold and add them to the database to drive further value for our clients, as we’ve done with PCS Global Marine and Energy and PCS Global Large Loss.

Johansmeyer explained: “For every new loss-reporting platform we launch, the historical loss database is designed to address three market needs. We investigate past losses to demonstrate our ability to access sufficient data from across the market, which clearly differentiates us from other loss-reporting agency expansion efforts around the world. Further, historical losses support better historical analysis.”

“And finally, the historical database provides a foundation for introducing past losses that are subject to further development. The 2019 riots in Chile are still early in the reporting cycle, and the industry still has a lot to learn about the insured losses associated with the event. In particular, facultative losses could take a while to evolve; and based on our current estimates, a small number of facultative losses are responsible for at least one-third of the total industry loss.”