Swiss Re has announced the addition of Fathom’s advanced global, UK and Japan flood maps to its CatNet risk assessment platform.

This follows the previous integration of the US Flood Map and represents a major development in managing and understanding flood risk.

Floods are a major natural hazard, affecting a third of the world’s population and causing huge losses for insurers. In 2023, global floods resulted in insured losses of $14 billion, exceeding the five- and ten-year averages of $10 billion and $9 billion, respectively.

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Countries such as New Zealand, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Greece and Slovenia have experienced severe flooding similar to that experienced by Australia and South Africa in 2022 and Germany in 2021.

Recent floods have caused record local losses, with urban expansion and climate change exacerbating flood risks and future losses. Insurers now need detailed data, advanced modelling and comprehensive risk knowledge to better understand their exposure to flood risk.

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By integrating Fathom’s flood maps into CatNet, Swiss Re’s clients gain access to accurate, high-resolution datasets covering the entire planet. This allows insurers to view multiple flood risk models on a single platform, facilitating more comprehensive risk assessments.

Ali Shahkarami (pictured above), Global Head of Property and Casualty Insurance Solutions at Swiss Re, said the insurance sector plays a crucial role in supporting society’s resilience against evolving flood risks.

“This integration is an important step forward in advancing our understanding of this rapidly evolving threat, and is a testament to our commitment to making the world more resilient,” Shahkarami said.

Andrew Smith, COO of Fathom, stressed the importance of making advanced models more accessible to insurers.

“The fact that we are taking advanced models produced in collaboration with academia and making them accessible to insurers within the popular CatNet® platform is a significant achievement,” Smith said.

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