Arturo, the property intelligence company that delivers portfolio-wide underwriting, risk and claims insights, today released its 2023 Vulnerability Report, detailing inherent risks threatening homes in Florida, specifically those caused by hurricanes and other natural disasters common to the state. The report also outlines advice for carriers, allowing them to successfully meet the needs of policyholders when it matters most.
“Florida’s market is a precarious one,” explains Greg Oslan, CEO of Arturo. “While it entices buyers with affordable home values and low taxes, the rising, unpredictable natural and manmade risk makes it challenging for carriers to offer a breadth of affordable insurance coverage options. With the right technology and insights, insurance carriers in Florida can have the intelligence necessary to assess their risk on both a property and portfolio level while ensuring Floridians are properly insured.”
Report Findings
Arturo’s Vulnerability Report found that 3 in 4 Florida roofs are unable to withstand category 3+ hurricanes due to low-performing shingles and the prevalence of gable roofs, making homes vulnerable to high wind speeds. Most (54%) of Florida homes have gable roofs, which are less durable to wind than hip roofs, and a further 59% are at risk of roof damage from trees that are precariously overlapping the house. Florida’s uniquely flat terrain also helps strong winds stay strong, even once they make landfall, maximizing the possibility of destruction. In fact, in Florida, replacing a roof can cost between $8,000 and $16,500. And with 10,681 Florida roofs that are more than 75% damaged today, one weather event could wreak exponentially more havoc on those households.
In addition to wind damage, hotter air and warmer oceans caused by climate change have created conditions ripe for rainfall-forward hurricanes. This rain, and subsequent flooding, is hazardous for the 86% of Florida homes that are single story, as all valuables are in the floodable area, none protected by a second story. Further compounding peril risk, 55% of insurance professionals feel they lack sufficient information to understand the risk posed by extreme rainfall.
“The wealth of information insurance companies have as it relates to how properties fare is unmatched,” according to Oslan. “As the climate shifts, so too should the assumptions about how we have built homes. A willingness to adapt could make a massive difference and by working with communities, regulators and other stakeholders to offer a perspective and progress towards changing how we build to last, you can cut down future risk.“
Arturo uses innovative computer vision models to assess and predict damages at the property and portfolio level to streamline the claims process, allowing adjusters to make quick, smart and fair decisions. This empowers carriers in Florida and across the country to tackle the biggest property challenges with efficiency, accuracy and confidence.
The 2023 Vulnerability Report focused on Florida represents the first in a series of state-by-state deep dives that will explore the unique markers of each geography and how, with the right knowledge of the “resting risk,” we can build more resilient communities.
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