Munich Re has introduced two new services to improve claims settlement for insurance companies.

It has implemented a new risk analysis for wildfire to evaluate risk in North America and estimate damage. It involves combining loss data from past wildfires with information from publicly accessible scientific sources to create high-resolution risk maps.

Insurers will be able to analyse risks more precisely and identify concentrations of risk at an early stage, Munich Re says.

“Losses can be estimated, and a start made on claims settlement very quickly during and after a wildfire, reducing costs and enabling policyholders to be indemnified much more quickly,” Munich Re says.

The reinsurer is developing the risk analysis across the United States and is planning to expand them to Europe and Asia.

It has also introduced automated recording of damage following a hurricane, which will make claims handling more efficient. Potential damage can be roughly estimated only two days prior to the hurricane making landfall, with aerial photos after the hurricane to get better damage estimates. Special artificial intelligence algorithms are also used.

The rapid recording will reduce time spent on claims handling and help deploy loss adjusters more effectively, Munich Re says.

“Many customers are already enjoying the benefits of digital technologies … but digitalisation offers many more possibilities to improve services and products …and insurers and reinsurers need to adapt,” it says.