Have you heard the story of a high-tech water management solutions startup that teamed up with an insurance giant? It was the beginning of a beautiful partnership.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Munich Re, one of the world’s largest global insurance groups, reached out to WINT Water Intelligence. The insurer’s technology innovation team asked to take a look at WINT’s technology. Over the five years that WINT has been in business, it has attracted a lot of attention for its cutting-edge solution. It made sense for Munich Re, an early adopter of insurance technology that remains at the forefront of InsurTech progress, setting the market standard when it comes to product quality and a dedication to transforming the industry through technological solutions, to be drawn to WINT’s capabilities. In short, WINT provides an AI-based solution that uses real-time water flow analysis to detect leaks and then shut off the water to prevent further damage.

“We do this with high confidence and a very high success rate,” said Alon Geva, CEO of WINT. “Our technology allows us to be extremely precise.”

Setting the stage

Geva and the rest of the WINT team didn’t know it at the time, but water leaks are also a major concern for insurers and one of the biggest sources of losses in both P&C and Builder’s Risk policies. With annual costs exceeding $13 billion in the US and £1 billion in the UK, for example, insurers are either moving away from covering property water liability or dramatically increasing their deductibles. It’s a sore spot for both sides: insurers are paying out billions of dollars in water damage claims and on the consumer side, deductibles have risen from $10,000 per event to more than $1,000,000 per event.

“With these numbers, if a construction company with 20 projects in operation experiences only a few water events, they would probably be paying several million in deductibles,” Geva said, adding that he recently spoke to a client who was asked to pay $2. m for each event. “When Munich Re contacted us, they were looking for a solution to this pressing issue.”

Aside from closely examining the performance of the technology – “Due to the pandemic, the engineer could not come to our office, so he built his own test lab at his home: I think he knows the system better than us, in terms of capabilities.” Giva laughed – Munich Re and WINT have collaborated on a joint analysis of how its solutions help customers in the real world. The results were amazing and WINT is very proud of this achievement, noted Jiva.

“The study conducted by Munich Re found that when a WINT system is installed on a construction site, the number of water-related claims decreases by 73%, and the average claims decrease by 90%,” says Geva. “With water damage accounting for approximately 30% of the loss ratio on construction risk policies, this has a real impact on the profitability of construction risk.”

After a lengthy technical evaluation process, Munich Re decided to proceed with WINT through HSB, its US-based subsidiary, which is leading the transaction.

Multifaceted partnership

The partnership has evolved over time. In April 2023, WINT launched the HSB-backed Performance Guarantee. Designed to mitigate the high deductible in the construction risk market, the program covers water damage of up to a quarter of a million dollars on WINT-protected construction sites. In other words – HSB experts trust WINT technology so much that they will undo damage that WINT failed to stop. The High Traction Program helps developers and general contractors who are concerned about the rapidly rising cost of insurance and deductibles with exclusions designated for water leak damage.

“The performance guarantee on the WINT system demonstrates the level of confidence HSB has in our product, as they are willing to guarantee the damage value,” said Geva.

To further ensure performance, WINT and HSB recently signed a distribution agreement, whereby HSB will resell WINT products directly to end customers as well as to other insurance companies as part of HSB’s IoT technology suite for risk mitigation. In addition to having a “very capable distribution partner, this is a strong statement from a trusted player in the insurance market, so we’re very excited about that,” Geva noted.

“While the cost of water damage continues to rise, water scarcity and water waste are a growing problem that we cannot ignore in the context of climate change,” said John Riggs, chief technology officer and senior vice president of applied technology solutions at HSB. “WINT’s AI-powered water management solutions provide our customers with a proven, technology-enabled approach to help prevent water damage and water waste. They also help them address the ongoing challenges of protecting their investments and addressing water sustainability.”

In the construction world, it’s not a question of if you’ll have a water leak, but when. And those end users can take advantage of a warranty to almost completely eliminate out-of-pocket expenses, including those high deductibles. Jiva recently spoke with one of WINT’s largest clients, a Texas construction company, who told him, “Preventing the unknown is a critical part of our business—so I’m very much in the predictability business. And that’s what WINT, with the support of our partner HSB, is doing: providing a tool that allows us to operate predictably.”

“A water leak causes direct damage, but it’s more than that,” Geva said. “There are factors you can’t get from an insurance company, like project delays, legal fees, and reputation. We help protect against all of these costs. Everyone has an incentive to apply like This system”.

Win (T) – Win (T) for all stakeholders

WINT is not just a positive force in the insurance industry. The company focuses on sustainability, through artificial intelligence and real-time signal processing, which identifies not only leaks but also water waste, reducing consumption, lowering utility costs, and lowering carbon emissions. This environmental benefit brings a lot of value as the company comprehensively addresses water-related issues and reduces the carbon footprint of its users.

“We hear from customers that lower bills are good even though the main concern was damage and restoration, whether that was insurance-related or self-coverage,” Giva said. “But the fact that we now come with strong support from Munich Re and HSB, it doesn’t have to be one or the other – they can save water, they can reduce their damage, but they don’t have to worry about paying high deductibles or even the hurdle of going through insurance.

Geva sees this move as market driven because customers consistently report that their first driver for installing WINT is sleeping at night knowing their site is protected. This is just the beginning of what WINT plans to do as it embraces going to market across the board.

“We have a very unique solution, and we are a very fast-growing company,” said Jiva. With over 400 leading global companies in its customer base, and tens of millions of dollars in potential damage prevention savings in 2023, the future looks bright and leak-free according to WINT’s CEO.

“The insurance world is truly a great driver for us, and our partnership with HSB takes our business to the next level. It’s a win-win.”

Photographer’s credit: Hila Kadi Krugman