ReAssess, a powerful new tool to help insurers more accurately assess their reinsurance needs, is today launched by The Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Reinsurance is a powerful tool for reducing the volatility of underwriting results and can be used to achieve a significant reduction in capital requirements a key driver for Solvency II regulations, due to come into effect in 2012.
The effectiveness of reinsurance is, to a certain extent, dependent upon insurers’ being able to take a realistic view of their values at risk. ReAssess provides reinsurance analysts with a consistent approach to determining value at risk and is an independent and authoritative data source to quote during compliance checks.
ReAssess will provide analysts with the rebuilding cost residential properties using BCIS rebuilding cost models already accepted as standard by surveyors and loss adjustors. The data, compiled over the last 40 years, is developed and maintained by in-house construction industry experts to ensure that it is always up-to-date and in line with building regulations. Containing over 2.5 million rebuilding cost values, ReAssess will enable insurers to accurately assess their value at risk across books of business rather than relying on internal models or the sum insured provided by the policyholder.
Andrew Thompson, international development and data director at BCIS explains:
“ReAssess can play an intrinsic role in assessing reinsurance needs and supporting Solvency II compliance. To allow insurers to evaluate ReAssess, we are inviting them to submit a data sample to BCIS, for which we will generate rebuilding cost values.”
Source : BCIS Press Release
