AIR Worldwide Corp. Releases CATStation

July 10, 2003

AIR Worldwide Corporation (AIR) announced the release of CATStation(TM), an exposure accumulation control and catastrophe risk underwriting system.

CATStation is a comprehensive system designed for underwriters of property, workers’ compensation and other insurance lines seeking catastrophe information for real-time decisions consistent with corporate guidelines. CATStation is a browser-based application that incorporates three progressively rigorous modules: exposure concentration analysis, hazard analysis, and loss analysis. Underwriters can use CATStation to make decisions based on accumulations, proximity to natural hazards and terrorist targets, and catastrophe loss potential.

“It is important to understand and map where exposures are located, but CATStation goes beyond simply mapping concentrations of exposures,” said Uday Virkud, senior vice president at AIR. “It maps exposures by their proximity to hazards, such as likely terrorist targets included in AIR’s comprehensive landmark database.

CATStation also provides insurers with vital hazard characteristics associated with a risk and the ability to run a full probabilistic loss analysis. Output provides the expected loss and probable maximum loss for natural and man-made perils, making it a complete underwriting decision-making tool.”

CATStation, which is available immediately, offers insurers a fully integrated, scalable, and flexible application.

It provides insurers all relevant catastrophe information from a single source as underwriting decisions are being made. CATStation’s architecture allows insurers to license only the modules needed for the perils that impact their book of business. It can be hosted on an insurer’s intranet, by AIR via the Internet, or implemented as an application programming interface (API), enabling companies to integrate it directly with existing underwriting systems. Its rules-based engine allows users to incorporate individual underwriting rules within each module to determine if a policy complies with individual company guidelines.

Three Powerful Modules
CATStation’s exposure concentration module allows insurers to measure how many properties in a given area are exposed to natural and man-made catastrophes. It provides users access to AIR’s extensive database of potential terrorist targets. Initial policy decisions can be made based on each company’s exposure accumulations and underwriting guidelines. Due to the widening impact of catastrophes across lines of business, the exposure concentration module can analyze property, workers’ compensation, life, accident and disability, and general liability losses.

The hazard analysis module of CATStation gives users the ability to easily assess hurricane, earthquake, flood, and severe thunderstorm hazards facing individual property locations. CATStation provides information on distance to active earthquake faults, storm surge potential, detail on historical tornadoes, and other hazard-related information.

The loss analysis module of CATStation enables insurers to run full probabilistic loss analyses for individual properties. The system takes full account of risk-specific structural details, occupancy, age, height and locational characteristics, such as site-specific geographical or geological information. Considering the location, construction and occupancy of the property, CATStation will estimate the loss potential through an analysis by AIR’s sophisticated natural and man-made catastrophe models.